U stadium issue hits House floor

04/06/2006

Debate today could bring changes to campus project

BY ARON KAHN
Pioneer Press
April 6, 2006

A football stadium bill aimed at returning a lost tradition to the University of Minnesota reached the state House floor Wednesday, the first time in four years that a stadium bill of any kind has advanced so far at the Capitol.

The proposed $248 million brick-and-glass facility, expected to be debated on the House floor today, would open in the fall of 2009 and replace Memorial Stadium, which was demolished after the Gophers began playing at the Metrodome in 1982.

“It will add greatly to the university’s sense of community and identity,’’ said Rep. Ron Abrams, R-Minnetonka, the bill’s sponsor and a 1974 graduate of the university. “There are very few college football teams that don’t play their home games on their campuses.”

Although the bill has gained strength in recent weeks and is expected to win approval from the Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the House debate today probably will include proposed amendments that would change the measure substantially.

Before legislative action concluded Wednesday, the full House beat back a procedural attempt by Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Lino Lakes. Krinkie proposed using the proposed stadium funds for a university biomedical research facility, which the school is seeking through different legislation.

Krinkie said he might try to make the switch a second time, in an amendment today.

As approved Wednesday on a strong bipartisan vote in the House Ways and Means Committee, the “land-for-stadium’’ bill instructs the state to buy 2,840 acres of university research land near Rosemount for $9.4 million a year for 25 years, and preserve the land for public recreation. The university would use the annual $9.4 million to help pay long-term debt on the football facility.

Although costing $248 million at opening, long-term borrowing costs require state help, backers say. The state and university would split those costs, with the school’s share coming from private contributions, student fees and a $35 million naming-rights deal with TCF Bank.

Today’s debate probably will feature another major attempt to change the bill, though not with the intent of sabotaging the stadium. Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, said he might try to amend the bill to remove the land sale and simply provide $7.4 million a year as the state’s contribution. Under those circumstances, the state would pay 40 percent of the stadium cost, rather than 50 percent.

The university said it prefers the land-sale option because the additional $2 million from the state in the arrangement would mean lowering the student fees to $25 a semester versus the expected $50 without the land deal.

“I’ve never seen a case where the seller can still use the land,’’ Knoblach said Wednesday at the committee, where he is chairman. He referred to a deal that would let the university conduct environmental and agricultural research on the site.

“What we’re buying here is a pig in a poke,’’ added Rep. Michael Beard, R-Shakopee.

But the committee majority said the land deal provided an opportunity to protect a huge amount of desirable metro-area land from development. It would be managed by the state Department of Natural Resources and used by a variety of people. Hunters and fishermen in the Twin Cities are “desperate” for more land, said Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis.

With or without the land deal, the stadium project disappointed Rep. Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul. With the university’s need for research and faculty funds, he said, the bill is “rubbing me the wrong way.’’

Amendments today probably will include an attempt to prevent the stadium from carrying a corporate name, with some lawmakers suggesting that honoring veterans, a past university administrator or athletic hero would be more appropriate. Veterans groups, however, have said the TCF agreement is acceptable as long as a memorial is part of the stadium design.