Now that the Minnesota Vikings embraced a stadium plan with Anoka County, the pressure should mount for Gov. Tim Pawlenty to call a special session to consider three stadium plans which will now be on the table.

Without judging the merits of any one plan, the governor should not cave into the pressure but rather put the stadiums issue on the legislative agenda when lawmakers next meet on March 1.

New Vikings owner Zygi Wilf needs to be given enormous credit for the process he’s taken to ensure the best success for a new stadium proposal, a refreshing change from the previous owner. Wilf has already made the rounds of legislative leaders to seek their input, and emphatically declared that the Vikings are a Minnesota treasure (even if they are 0-2 this year) and will not be moved from the state.

The proposal calls for a $675 million retractable roof stadium in Blaine, in a partnership with Anoka County. The stadium would be publicly owned through a stadium authority appointed by the Legislature, the Vikings would operate it under a no-escape clause for 30 years and take the revenues, and make annual payments to the county.

The public would be on the hook, but mostly through the loss of increased property taxes, which would be used to retire state-issued construction bonds. Also, Anoka County would ask to levy a sales tax adding 75 cents to each $100 purchased. Wilf and the NFL would contribute $280 million toward the cost.

While Wilf didn’t specifically ask for legislative action this fall, the timetable has the Vikings moving in to the new facility in 2009 or 2010, depending on when the Legislature takes action.

The proposal joins those of the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota football Golden Gophers, both who want separate stadiums and whose proposals didn’t get aired during the recent regular and special sessions. The Twins would partner with Hennepin County for a downtown Minneapolis stadium, funded in part by a county sales tax there. The Gophers would build a $235 million open-air stadium on campus, with 60 percent coming from private funds. There is pressure for both of those proposals to be considered in a fall special session.

Minnesota lawmakers have previously balked at any stadium, and have debated a Minnesota Twins facility for years to no avail. There is no doubt that Minnesota lawmakers and citizens must come to grips with the issue threefold, and determine a public role, if any, in their construction. Wilf is right in saying that professional sports, especially the Vikings, have become entwined in the cultural heritage of Minnesota and worthy of public investment. How much, however, is the looming question.

But lawmakers have been at each other’s throats for 6 1/2 months of this year already, and the stadium issue is not a crisis. Still, Gov. Pawlenty and legislative leaders should give a clear signal that the issue will be resolved come March 1. In the interim, perhaps a thoughtful study could pave the way &045; a study that analyzes the financial impact of all three stadium proposals on the public.

&045; The Bemidji Pioneer