I have said it before on this list and I will say it again, I am not in favor of putting any money towards baseball--stadium or otherwise--due to the current state of the organization of baseball. However, I will support a Vikings stadium in a second.
BUT in no case will I support any stadium effort this year while the State is considering cutting LGA aid to cities, and raising taxes to fix a $1.2 billion deficit. If the LGA cuts that Governor is proposing for the cities and our State Legislature rolls over to accomodate him, hundreds of people will lose their jobs, and if you think school closings in Osseo are awful, wait until the final State budget rolls down hill.
The priority is to attend to our State's existing needs and not to private enterprises. I am sure baseball and football and their millions can wait. PRIORITIES! PRIORITIES! PRIORITIES!
Denise Tolbert, Ward 10, East Harriet Farmstead
deanc <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Much like Ms. Nelson I too am a stadium supporter and am comfortable with a
modest amount of public financing, especially if it came from a region-wide
or state-wide source -- the City of Minneapolis should not be the entity
that is the main source of financing. Personally, I think a casino would be
the best source, especially if it could be structured to help the Tribes
that don't have the benefit of owning a highly profitable mega-casino.
Since I don't gamble, I get a new stadium scot-free!!
Also let's face it, Minnesota got a 1-year reprieve on contraction. If
there is no stadium plan, 2002 will be the last year of the Twins and I
don't think there is another Judge Crump out there to save them the next
time. Contraction is very real and is not a bluff on baseball's part!!
Finally, I don't believe the proposed location will harm the warehouse
district. The proximity is so close, I only see a stadium complementing the
warehouse district. Let's also remember that the proposed warehouse
district site doesn't include a lot of new parking so many will have to park
in the 3 commuter ramps or elsewhere in the downtown and walk to and from
the stadium to their cars. Actually it's probably a better location than
the metrodome area as there is a base to build upon versus acres of surface
parking lots and freeway interchanges that dominate the dome's neighborhood.
If I had my druthers, I would put it at the old Nicollet Park site at 31st
and Nicollet. MPHA could then sell viewing seats from the top of the Horn
Towers...(grin).
Dean E. Carlson
Ward 10, East Harriet
Barbara L. Nelson writes:
> What do folks think; will Rybak be in political trouble if he can put
> together a stadium deal that combines public financing (not public
> funding) and revenues from streams that wouldn't exist if the stadium
> weren't built? Has the debate become so emotionally driven that his
> supporters cannot distinguish between these differences? Put another
> way, is the so-called sophistication of Minneapolitans a myth when it
> comes to this issue?
>
> The other item that arouses my curiosity is Minneapolis' location of the
> stadium in the Warehouse District. Were we to build a Milwaukee-like
> stadium whose halls are filled with other commercial enterprises such as
> destination dining, what businesses do people envision could be
> successful in this location and in tandem with a ballpark? Would the
> competition be helpful or hurtful to the Warehouse District as a whole,
> or would we just empty out the storefronts that exist now, as they moved
> into the presumably higher-traffic stadium? Watkins' idea of a museum
> is intriguing to me because this type of destination doesn't duplicate
> what is already found in the WDistrict, and it would presumably be a new
> source of traffic.
>
> Barbara Nelson
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