To the cheers of purple-clad fans, the Minnesota Vikings and Ramsey County on Tuesday announced an agreement to build a $1 billion stadium on the site of a former munitions plant in Arden Hills.
The team is committing $417 million to the stadium, team owner Mark Wilf said. Ramsey County would use a half-cent sales tax to cover $350 milion in bonding, and the state would be responsible for $300 million.
Now the Ramsey County Board needs to approve the sales tax. The plan also needs the approval of the Legislature, still wrestling with a $5 billion deficit with less than two weeks to go in the session.
Still the mood the Ramsey County public works building, on the edge of the proposed stadium site, was jubilant Tuesday as team and county officials congratulated each other for a successful conclusion to what they described as nearly a year of negotiations.