On Friday, a meaningless deadline came and went for the Vikings and the powers-that-be in Minnesota to figure out how to finance $131 million in road improvements near the proposed site of the team’s new stadium in Arden Hills. Despite the perception that the project is languishing, the parties claim that the effort is moving forward.
“We had been stalled for about a month, but we’re not stalled now,” Ted Mondale, chairman of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, told Kevin Duchschere of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “We’re a lot closer this week than last.”
Vikings exec Lester Bagley agreed, explaining that “significant progress” was made within the past seven days. “I think when legislators and the governor are ready to address the stadium in a special session, that we will have the comprehensive proposal in front of them,” Bagley said.
And that’s the next hurdle -- getting a special session scheduled, and then getting some of the time for the special session devoted to the Vikings stadium plan. With the state budget taking priority and the state government due to shut down on June 30 absent a deal, there may not be much time to address the proposal, however comprehensive it may be.