Ramsey Commissioners Bennett, Ortega perplexed at Coleman plan, say it won’t work

Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett has been the point man on the county’s bold effort to lure the Minnesota Vikings to a new stadium in Arden Hills, and he sounded a bit perplexed — almost blind-sided this afternoon — upon hearing about St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s global stadium plan.

The Coleman proposal would impose a 2-cents-per-drink tax state-wide, and a quarter-cent sales tax in St. Paul, to finance a plethora of stadium-related issues. With it, he’d like to keep the Vikings in Minneapolis, move the Timberwolves to St. Paul (to share the Xcel Center with the Wild), get rid of Target Center and put a Saints baseball stadium in St. Paul’s Lowertown.

The Wild and Wolves reacted quickly — and with dramatically different views.

Wild owner Craig Leipold was, of course, supportive of the mayor, saying: “Since the beginning of the legislative session, the Minnesota Wild has been in support of a global solution which would address all of the state’s professional sports facilities.
 
“This proposal from Mayor Coleman, for the Xcel Energy Center to host the Timberwolves and Lynx, is a new idea in this discussion. It is certainly possible from a facility standpoint. Multiple tenants in one building is common and is the case in most major markets around the country including Dallas, Denver, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where the Staples Center hosts three major league sports teams. While we haven’t discussed this idea with the Timberwolves, we would be happy to do so if the Wolves were interested in discussing this proposal.”

Leipold added: “In recent years, the Wild have developed plans for building improvements to keep the Xcel Energy Center a state of the art facility, including a multi-level expansion on the building’s north side. We have also supported the City of St. Paul’s work to build an Amateur Sports Center of Excellence on 7th Street across from the arena, which could also be used as a practice facility for the Wild. Those existing plans could easily be modified to accommodate the needs of the Timberwolves and Lynx, including additional locker rooms, lower bowl modifications and additional retail and office space should the Wolves and Lynx decide to move to St. Paul.”

Timberwolves Vice President Ted Johnson, meanwhile, reacted coolly to Coleman’s idea: “While we appreciate Mayor Coleman’s efforts to advance the stadium conversation, we are very happy with our home in Minneapolis. We continue to believe that the best path forward is the sensible solution of renovating Target Center, which has been such a tremendous economic engine for this region for the past 20 years.”

Bennett says none of this was shared with him in advance, even though it would torpedo his plan for the Arden Hills Vikings.

And no matter what Coleman or Minneapolis officials propose, Bennett said he’s sure the Vikings prefer the Arden Hills site, with its acres of parking that can generate big, big parking fees for the team.

I talked with Bennett a few minutes after the Coleman plan was released. At first, he said he’d only heard rumors of the mayor’s plan. “I’ve heard four different versions,” he said.

We talked again a few minutes later, after he’d seen Coleman’s official release of the plan’s details.

“The first thing that crossed my mind: What’s not in it for St. Paul?” he said, reminding me that he was referring to St. Paul City Council President Kathy Lantry line about the Ramsey County stadium plan that calls for a county-wide tax: “What’s in it for St. Paul?”

Bennett’s colleague, Commissioner Rafael Ortega, also has been instrumental in the Arden Hills deal. He said got a call about the Coleman plan an hour before it was announced. He doesn’t think it’s a good plan, or that it will work, but said: “I respect Mayor Coleman’s opinion, and I appreciate where he’s coming from. But it’s a little confusing from where I look at it.”

Ortega said he believes a motivation for the plan may be St. Paul’s concerns that Minneapolis will renovate Target Center and steal more concert business from St. Paul’s Xcel Center.

Bennett said: “As I see it, [the Coleman plan] is a ‘We want it all’ solution for the city, with no consideration for the rest of the county. It seems like St. Paul’s getting everything it wants in this deal. Everything except the Vikings,” Bennett said.

“I don’t really get it,” he continued. “We’ve got a worthwhile project that benefits everybody. We’re cleaning up a Superfund site, developing property that’s been very difficult to get on the market and putting it back on the tax rolls, and creating a lot of jobs on our side of the river.”

Bennett said he understands that St. Paul has to look after its own interests. “Coleman’s trying to do something for his city but isn’t considering our plans for the clean-up, the jobs and the fact that this is what the Vikings want,” he said.

“I’m not against what they’re trying to do, but we’ve always supported the Saints and the Xcel arena, so it would be nice if they’d reciprocate.”

Many in the city (as well as another Bennett colleague, County Board Chair Victoria Reinhardt) have opposed the Arden Hills stadium deal because it calls for an additional half-cent sales throughout Ramsey County.

Bennett said he’d rather not impose that tax, if there were a better option. But he said it was the only way the county could fund its $300 million share of the stadium financing deal. He said no other entities were stepping up to the plate to help on the financing, making it impossible to spread the tax on a metro or statewide basis.

But he said he likes Coleman’s idea of a 2-cents-a-drink tax, spread throughout the state.

“I’d love to use that for the [Arden Hills] stadium,” he said.

At this point, Bennett said, all he can do is keep working with the Vikings and legislators on getting the Arden Hills deal done, either in a special legislative session, or next year.

Ortega said the Ramsey County effort will continue unabated. “We’ve done our homework, we’ve been up at the Capitol for months. And the Vikings are solidly behind us.”