FAIRMONT - Most everyone identifies the Minnesota Vikings with the Metrodome. But Metropolitan Sports Facilities chairman Roy Terwilliger told a group in Fairmont on Wednesday that the Metrodome is used 300 days per year, not just for the 10 Vikings home games.
"It's not just the Vikings, it's high school sports, bands, monster truck rallies," he said at a gathering of Chamber of Commerce members. "There have been thousands of events hosted in the Metrodome since 1982, and the tremendous use of that facility has been a success."
That includes financially.
In 1982, the Metrodome was built for $55 million, without any state dollars. (Minneapolis did spend $11 million to reroute some streets). A hospitality tax paid off the bonds. The Metrodome now carries no debt, and has a $15 million surplus.
"It's been a self-sufficient facility," Terwilliger said.
An encore of that success will not be easily done.
While the Metrodome has paid $310 million to state coffers, construction of a new multi-purpose, climate-controlled facility likely will cost $800 million. The NFL ranks the Metrodome at the bottom of the list of stadiums its teams use. And there are security issues related to the Metrodome since 9/11.
"It's one of the oldest stadiums in the country," Terwilliger said. "And 60 percent of the operating costs are covered by the Vikings."
Most people who have kept tabs on the "Vikings need a new stadium" scoreboard know the Vikings lease with the Metrodome runs out after next season.
"Without the Vikings, the facility would go into the red within five years," Terwilliger said.
But building a new stadium seems to rank low on the list when the state is facing a $6 billion deficit.
"It will take three years to construct a new facility," Terwilliger said. "We wouldn't be spending $800 million all at once; we would be financing it like you would a house."
Some suggestions that have been tossed around include statewide bonding, a statewide sales tax, or tapping into Indian gaming money.
"The NFL has an aversion to gambling money being involved," said Terwilliger.
That brought some chuckles from the group of Chamber members.
But Terwilliger's main point is that any new stadium would need to be a year-round facility.
"I know there's talk of a retractable roof, which would only add about $25 million to the plan," he said. "But I don't know how often that it would be retracted."
There was also discussion about where the Vikings would play while the new facility is being built. Moving to the Gophers new stadium would create a financial hit, with a loss of 15,000 seats and only a third of the box suites available. Transportation in the area also would be an issue.
"It will come before the Legislature this session," Terwilliger said. "It's not going to be an easy job ... I think we need to keep an open mind, and think about what it means to have this type of facility, yet be aware of the other needs out there."
Feedback from the Bureau 14 business group was typical, according to Terwilliger. While most realize a sports team is not the most important item for the state, it is an issue that needs to be addressed.
"If we let the Vikings leave, we will eventually spend a boatload more money trying to get a team to come back," said one local Chamber member, recalling the state losing the North Stars hockey team and Lakers basketball team.
According to Terwilliger, the Vikings are willing to spend up to $300 million toward a new facility. Other possibilities include a zero-interest loan, which is what helped build the Xcel Energy Center, or a tax such as the 0.15 percent sales tax in Hennepin County that helped finance the Twins new baseball stadium.
"The difficult part of how to do this will be up to the Legislature; they are the ones who need to make it fit and work," Terwilliger said. "But the facility is not just for a professional football team; it's for so many more things than that. If we lose it, we would miss it dearly."