Ramsey County officials said today that they are "edging closer" to a deal that would see the Minnesota Vikings build a brand new football stadium on the site of the old Army Ammunition plant in Arden Hills, according to a report from Minnesota Public Radio.
Earlier this year, the county voted to begin negotiations with the Vikings about being the team's local partner in a three-way deal for the stadium with the team and the state. Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett said that he thinks the talks have been fruitful, even though there is not a formal proposal in writing yet.
"We've made a lot of progress. We've talked over a lot of their concerns and our concerns, and we've reached agreement on a lot of those areas," Bennett said.
The other sites that are in contention for the stadium are the site that the Metrodome currently sits on, and the Farmer's Market district of Minneapolis near Target Field. Unfortunately for the city of Minneapolis, mayor R.T. Rybak has stated, in so many words, that the city of Minneapolis is broke and can't contribute anything to a new stadium.
With that being the case, if the Vikings want to get anything done in this legislative session. . .the last legislative session before the team's lease with the Metrodome expires. . .they might want to get a little more serious with Arden Hills and get something done so that the state can get their end of the deal done before the legislature closes in about three weeks.