Mondale: Stadium deal needs to get done soon to boost odds of passage this year

The sooner a stadium bill can be introduced in the upcoming session, the better chance there is of a stadium deal this year, Ted Mondale said Thursday. Mondale, chair of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission and Gov. Mark Dayton's stadium czar, said after the commission's meeting Thursday that he thought odds were good for a deal if a bill can be put together early in the session. Any later, he said, and legislators will become distracted with redistricting and the fall's elections. "The later it goes in the session, the issues I think politically get tougher to do," said Mondale, a former state senator. The ingredients for success? According to Mondale, what's needed now is a definite finance plan on which the state, the Vikings and a local partner can agree, wrapped around a bill that identifies a single site. If Minneapolis is the partner, he said, the City Council will have to make it clear that its proposed financing will be politically viable. Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke, who introduced a stadium plan last week for 130 acres east of the city's downtown district, attended Thursday's commission meeting and got praise for the clarity of his proposal. Dayton cast doubts Wednesday on the plan's reliance on revenue from a racino at nearby Canterbury Park, but Tabke said that city leaders are exploring other revenue options and were encouraged by the fact that no specific site has yet been determined. "The vast majority of people [in Shakopee] are extremely excited," he said. After getting site proposals last week, Dayton said Wednesday that he thought the location with the best possibilities was the Linden Avenue site near the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis. Financing for the Arden Hills site, promoted by Ramsey County, and the Shakopee proposal was shaky, he said, and the Metrodome site wasn't the best bet for future development. Mondale said the Linden Avenue site has more acreage than the nearby Farmers Market location and that downtown leaders like it better. Mondale and Dayton are meeting with Basilica leaders tomorrow to discuss issues that they've raised about construction and congestion in the area. The commission voted Thursday to hire Kimley-Horn and Associates, which assessed traffic and transportation needs at the Arden Hills site for the Metropolitan Council, to do the same work at the Linden Avenue site. Mondale said that Hennepin County appears doubtful for now as a potential partner. It has the revenue, he said, but county officials don't like either the Linden Avenue or Dome sites. The site they prefer, Farmers Market, has elevation problems and includes the Sharing and Caring Hands charity, which Mondale said would be difficult and expensive to relocate. Does Mondale have a deadline for a stadium deal? "Yeah, last March," he said.