Don - I was never in the old Memorial Stadium, but I literally drove by it hundreds of times, since I officed nearby.
I have asked dozens of people who were in it over the years, if it could have been renovated and I have gotten opinions all over the map, from "The benches were way too narrow and uncomfortable" to "Of course it could have been done." "Memorial Stadium also known as the "Old Brickhouse" was the home of Minnesota Golden Gophers football from 1924 until 1981. . . . The school elected to move out of the stadium to the Metrodome about two miles away during the spring of 1982. The stadium was torn down 10 years later." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Stadium_(University_of_Minnesota) As a digression, (and a way to post this on the St. Paul Group), I was just in the new Patagonia Store on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, where Ruminator / Hungry Mind Bookstore used to be, for the first time yesterday and spoke with Robert Cohen, who manages all of Patagonia's stores in the country. He showed me an old picture, in the entrance foyer, from the 1960's ? when it was the Yarnary. Cohen said that Patagonia NEVER builds new buildings, but only opens in old rehabbed spaces, which is a long way to say that I think that Memorial Stadium should never have been torn down. By tearing down Memorial Stadium it was insured that the Gophers would have to play in the MetroDome and pay rent to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. I would wager that Memorial Stadium could have been renovated for a small fraction of the $235 million dollars we are talking about today. I am neither a builder nor an architect, but the renovation probably could have been done for anywhere between $25 and $50 million dollars. Unfortunately, that is a moot discussion, because Memorial Stadium has not been with us for over 10 years. The question is what to do with the Gophers now. I find it very interesting that the University of Minnesota says it can build a new football stadium, which can seat 50,000 people for $235 million dollars, while Ziggy Wilf says it will cost $790 million dollars, to build his new stadium for the Vikings in Blaine, which will only seat 65,000 people. Thus the cost of the new Gophers stadium is $4,700 per seat ($235 mil /50,000 seats), while Ziggys new sports palace will cost $12,153 per seat ($790 mill /65,000) or over 2 1/2 times as much. The new Gophers stadium would require a state contribution of $7 million dollars over 30 years. http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5655656.html Another difference is the Gophers have to raise 60% privately and will only get 40% or $97 million from the state or legislature. On the other hand, Ziggy is asking the taxpayers to pick up over $500 million of the tab and of the $240 million he is allegedly putting in, he will be able to offset with a donation NFL Stadium Building Fund, the sale of Naming Rights, sale of Personal Seat Licenses, parking revenues and concession revenue. I think that in the end Ziggy will probably not have to put in one cent of his own money, but will be able to leverage the whole deal, which means the taxpayers and the team supporters are giving Ziggy a $790 million dollar gift. But I have gone a long way from your initial question of what do I think of the Gophers stadium proposal. Let me just say that I think $97 million dollars would pay for a lot of new classrooms, laboratories and Professor's salaries. To me a new laboratory or classroom is a lot better investment in our state and our children's future than a stadium. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission has said that it will take $5 million a year to keep the Metrodome operating if the Vikings and Twins leave. That is still $2 million dollars a year less than a new Gopher stadium will cost and the Gophers will still be playing in a nice in-door heated facility. Maybe the Metropolitian Sports Facilities Commission should just sell the Dome to the U. for a dollar and we'd all be ahead by $2 million dollars a year, or $60 million over the next 30 years. This is not including rent that the U. could get for renting the Dome for tractor pulls, motocross races and concerts. Dann Dobson No Stadium tax Coalition [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join the Stadium Discussion! Join the NoStadiumTax Yahoo Discussion group. http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/nostadiumtax/ --- Don Jorovsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Dann, > > what do you think about the proposed gopher stadium? > On the one hand, I keep thinking that they should > not > have torn down the one they had........now they > could > just renovate it for a lot less. On the other hand, > given > that is the situation, I'm not as opposed to that > one in > the sense that the state bonding bill routinely has > in it > all kinds of buildings for the U of M and for MnSCU > all > over the state, and this would be just another one. > > Don > > > > >From: Dann Dobson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: [email protected] > >Subject: [Mpls] No Stadium Tax Yahoo Group > >Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2005 18:02:40 -0700 (PDT) > > > > > >In an attempt to organize stadium tax opponents, I > have just started a new > > > >Anti-Stadium Tax Yahoo group; NO Stadium Tax. > > > > > > > >http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/NoStadiumTax/ > > > > > > > >No Stadium Tax is dedicated to fighting the > giveaway of our hard-earned tax > >dollars to Billionaire Sports Team owners who want > to pick the pockets of > >taxpayers, rather than pay for their own new > stadiums. > > > >Specifically, this site is dedicated to fighting > the proposals for the new > >Minnesota Twins stadium in Minneapolis, to be paid > for with a new Hennepin > >County Sales tax and the proposed Vikings Stadium > in Blaine to be paid for > >with $230 million in State Tax Dollars. > > > >We will examine how teams in other cities have > built their own stadiums > >without using tax dollars, such as the San > Francisco Giants, New England > >Patriots, Saint Louis Cardinals and Carolina > Panthers. > > > >We will show people how to make their voices heard > and get involved in > >stopping these tax giveaways. > > > > > > > >Dann Dobson > > > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > >--------------------------------- > > Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million > songs. Try it free. > >REMINDERS: > >1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at > http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. > >If you think a member is in violation, contact the > list manager at > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > > > >2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > > >For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > >For external forums, see: > http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > >________________________________ > > > >Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused > Civic Discussion - Mn > >E-Democracy > >Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] > >Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > > > __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
