Vikings Arden Hills stadium rendering
Written by
The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Republican state lawmaker has introduced a bill to build a new Vikings stadium in Ramsey County and pay for it with tax money raised by authorizing electronic bingo games and pull-tabs in bars and restaurants.
Rep. Rod Hamilton of Mountain Lake filed his bill Wednesday. He has not previously been involved in stadium negotiations at the Capitol, though his bill is similar to the Arden Hills proposal the Vikings and Ramsey County had been pushing for most of the last year.
That proposal has recently been abandoned as stadium negotiations re-focused on rebuilding at or near the current Metrodome site.
Hamilton's bill would have the stadium built on the same Arden Hills land as previously proposed. The stadium would have a roof, 65,000 seats and would open by 2016.
On the Senate side, three Republicans will announce their own stadium financing plan Thursday morning. Senators Roger Chamberlain, David Hann and Pam Wolf have summoned the news media to a Capitol press conference.
It's doubtful their plan will involve gambling revenue. Sen. Hann has been an outspoken critic of gambling expansion in Minnesota, and is flatly opposed to using gaming as a revenue source for a new Vikings stadium.
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