Dr. Emmett Brown once said, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” Unfortunately, that concept doesn’t apply to the Minnesota Vikings and the new stadium they covet.
As the Arden Hill proposal moves into crunch time for 2011 -- and, quite possibly, a “now or never” phase -- owners Zygi Wilf has decided that, in order to pay for improvements to the roads around the chosen site, now is the time to increase his contribution. Specifically, Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that owner Zygi Wilf recently agreed to kick another $30 million onto a pile of cash from the team and the league that previously totaled $407 million.
The extra money would help defray the estimated $131 million needed to improve the roads. Governor Mark Dayton has said that the state is willing to contribute a maximum of $300 million to the stadium project, but that no additional money would be available for the roads.
The parties are trying to finalize a proposal in the immediate future, in the hopes that a special session of the Minnesota Legislature will approve the overall project.