A news story earlier this week reported Vikings executive Lester Bagley said the franchise doesn’t need a roof on a new facility, but Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission chairman Roy Terwilliger told Sports Headliners such a stadium won’t be politically popular.
“The fact is policy makers will look at this as a people’s facility,” Terwilliger said. “It’s not just one (facility) that takes care of one tenant.”
Vikings spokesman Jeff Anderson said during an interview with Sports Headliners that a covered stadium is “clearly a statewide asset” and the Vikings are not “at odds” with supporters of such a facility.
Members of the commission, operators of the Metrodome, along with other stadium proponents have long advocated a new facility with a roof, a venue that can be used hundreds of days per year for activities ranging from low profile events like amateur sports to an NCAA Final Four basketball tournament. Saying that a “roof takes care of the public,” Terwilliger said building an outdoor Vikings football stadium leaves the community without the sort of options the Metrodome has provided since 1982.
An antiquated facility with a collapsed roof, it’s not financially feasible to continue operation of the dome if the Vikings aren’t the major tenant. In the future an open air Vikings stadium would mean the state has no large covered stadium since both TCF Bank Stadium and Target Field don’t have roofs.
“It’s not consistent with the needs across the state and region,” Terwilliger said. “It’s just not going to work.”
Anderson said the franchise prefers an outdoor stadium because of the team’s legendary past of playing football in the elements at Met Stadium, and also because an outdoor venue is a less costly option. An estimated price of an outdoor stadium is $750 million, while a covered facility (fixed roof, not retractable) might cost $200 million more.
The Vikings have publicly stated their willingness to pay for one-third the cost of an outdoor stadium. Anderson said that estimated contribution of about $240 million would be available for payment toward a covered facility, too.