Bold plan for Vikes, Target Center

After mainly standing on the sidelines when Hennepin County stepped up as a partner for the Minnesota Twins in developing Target Field, the city of Minneapolis is finally proposing to play a pivotal role in building a new stadium for the Vikings as long as Target Center is part of the equation.

For those Minnesotans who value the quality of life available in a major-league market, the emergence of a realistic local partner is encouraging news.

The proposal announced Monday by Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson is an affordable, forward-looking solution that would keep the Vikings in Minnesota, renovate the deteriorating Target Center, maintain the city's Convention Center and give a major boost to the postrecession recovery now underway in downtown Minneapolis.

And it would reduce the city's daunting property tax burden by $50 million over the next decade.

In much the same way Hennepin County Board Chairman Mike Opat helped lead the way on Target Field, Rybak and Johnson have worked largely behind the scenes to find a viable local solution for the Vikings.

The city's proposal fills an essential role for a local partner in the stadium bill introduced last month by state Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, and Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, who had the political courage to take the lead in the Legislature and fight the antirevenue tide with strategic use of sales taxes.

Ramsey County officials, who are promoting a stadium plan for the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site in Arden Hills, should not be discounted. But the math doesn't add up for a suburban location that would require more than $100 million in new infrastructure.

Opat, who focused on the pricey Farmers Market site in the Warehouse District, took the county out of the mix last week, citing a number of complicating factors.

This page has argued for years that the best solution for a new Vikings stadium would include a public-private partnership and a roofed stadium in downtown Minneapolis that could continue to host events ranging from state high school championships to Vikings games, while also competing for major convention business and other national events.

(Full disclosure: The value of Star Tribune property near the Dome site will likely be affected by the location decision.)

The Vikings, who have yet to commit to a site or a final financial contribution, need to realize that the Dome plan offers the best odds for a stadium bill to receive the necessary 2011 support from a local partner, the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton.

Expect the Vikings to continue their flirtation with Ramsey County to retain leverage, but the team would be wise not to overplay its hand. The costs of delay beyond 2011 include lost revenue for the team, increased construction and land costs, and the unpredictability of election-year politics.

But the success of Target Field serves as a reminder of the positive impact a first-class stadium can have on a region that wants to remain economically competitive while cities like Denver and Indianapolis make huge bets on public infrastructure.

The mix of sales taxes and user fees included in the Minneapolis package is reasonable, and the Vikings, city and state would share the burden in appropriate proportions.

Three decades ago, Minnesota made a bold decision to build a football stadium on the Metrodome site.

With the most cost-effective infrastructure now in place -- and with a TCF Bank Stadium available as a temporary home for the Vikings -- the Dome site has emerged as the best option, with another bold plan that Rybak rightly calls "a game-changer."

* * *