Commentary; Posted: 1/14/04

Give all stadium plans an equal chance

Don Heinzman

The battle is under way to land the future stadiums for the Minnesota Twins baseball team and the Minnesota Vikings football team.

As the starting whistle sounds, the front-runners are Minneapolis and St. Paul. Meanwhile, Blaine and Eden Prairie and possibly other suburbs also have well-thought-out proposals.

These suburban sites have two strikes against them, because the thinking is Minneapolis and St. Paul need the stadiums to remain strong and healthy.

Should either Blaine or Eden Prairie come close to gaining either stadium, youíll hear the cries that the suburban leadership is trying to weaken the core cities, and that the vitality of the suburban and outlying communities depends on strong urban centers.

This raises the larger question: Are the more conservative suburbs anti-core cities?

Judging from the posture of the suburban leadership, their consensus is that the vitality of the Metropolitan region depends on a thriving Minneapolis and St. Paul.

There is neither an agenda nor an advocate to deny funding to Minneapolis and St Paul to solve special urban problems. Contrary to some thinking, it is a mistake to assume that suburban communities, or even the legislators think alike on a suburban legislative agenda.

In fact, suburban communities, it should be understood, are all different with different agendas and do not agree on a common agenda. For example, some suburban Republican legislators, led by Rep. Phil Krinke, oppose the Northstar Commuter Rail funding, which is favored by other Republican legislators.

The question of locating professional sports stadiums, however, should not be based on the need to place it in either Minneapolis and St. Paul. It should be based on what makes sense regionally and economically.

Both Blaine and Eden Prairie have the space for the football stadium, practice fields, headquarters and parking. Blaine has prepared a Viking stadium proposal while Eden Prairie has a site in its northeast corner that has room for both the Twins and the Vikings.

Except for locating stadiums, metropolitan leaders have positioned large regional attractions where they belong.

Examples are: National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Canterbury Racing Track in Shakopee, the Mall of America in Bloomington, the Valley Fair Entertainment Center in Shakopee and the Dale Shopping Centers.

When it comes to stadiums, however, the economic and political power usually triumph and that clout favors urban sites.

A good example is Bloomingtonís loss of the professional baseball, football and hockey stadiums to Minneapolis and St. Paul. Neither city could stand Bloomington having those status attractions.

Fortunately, for Bloomington, the world renowned Mall of America was built on that vacated land.

Years ago, a battle royal was waged when a site in Ham Lake was seriously suggested for a new metropolitan airport.

This time around, all stadium proposals should be given an equal chance no matter where they are located. The decision should be based on whatís best for the metropolitan region as a whole.

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