And then there were two.
Hennepin County Board Chair Mike Opat wrote a letter to Governor Mark Dayton, stating that Hennepin County. . .who was championing a stadium site in the "Farmer's Market" district of Minneapolis near Target Field. . .saying that Hennepin County would not be the Vikings' local partner in their pursuit of a new stadium for the team.
"My pursuit of an agreement with the Vikings to present to my colleagues, yourself and legislative leaders will not continue at this time," Opat wrote Gov. Mark Dayton in a letter delivered Thursday.
As Opat was the man championing the Farmer's Market location, that spot is now out of the discussion, for all intents and purposes. This means that there are only two sites that are now under serious consideration for the new Vikings' stadium as things stand right now.
One of these is the Ramsey County site that encompasses what used to be the old Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant, a site that has laid vacant for a long time now. Ramsey County appears to be stepping up their efforts to get something done with the Vikings, but nothing has been finalized yet.
The other site is the current site of the Metrodome downtown. However, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has all but said that the city can't afford to get involved in supporting a stadium financially, and now that Hennepin County has shown no interest in getting involved, that site could well be dead in the water as well.
The current session of the Minnesota legislature closes up shop on May 27. If the lack of a local partner is what might keep things from getting done, it looks like the options are getting narrowed down.