MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Even after Gov. Mark Dayton signs the Vikings stadium deal, there’s still a lot to get done before the first snap at the new stadium.

In the meantime, the team will still play most of its home games at the Metrodome.

“It’s historic, it’s old, we love it, but it needs to be changed,” said fan Erica Flanagan.

Looking at the artist renderings, fans want to be out of the old and into the new.

“We have one of the worst game day experiences in the NFL,” said Cory Merrifield with SavetheVikes.org. “Now we’ll have a state-of-the-art facility.”

However, to get there will take some time.

Dayton must appoint a new sports commission in 30 days and the new commission will make its transition within 90 days. Then the commission, team, city and state must agree on the next steps.

The design and architectural phase could take a year, and then it’s onto construction.

“We’re looking at a 20 to 22 month construction period,” said Ted Mondale, chair of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. “We don’t have time to sit around.”

The new stadium is expected to hold 65,000 seats, 150 suites and 7,500 club seats. A retractable roof may still be an option, but only if the team agrees to pay for it.

If you’re wondering what the new stadium might look like, you can look to Indianapolis. During the debate, many said it will have a feel like Lucas Oil Stadium.

“This is an event,” Mondale said. “This is the type of thing you drive from North Dakota, and pay $100 a ticket to go see, and have the best day of the year. And nothing less than that should be the goal.”

The stadium is going to be much bigger than our current Metrodome, which will actually make construction easier. Work can be done on and around the dome, all while building the new stadium — and that will take two years.

The Vikings would play at TCF Bank Stadium in the third and final year of construction, and the U of M reached an agreement to make that happen.

The new stadium would be completed by 2016.

Mayor R.T. Rybak told reporters today that the construction at the Metrodome site isn’t the only positive for the city. The Target Center will also get an upgrade once the city approves the deal.

The dispute is centered on where to place the stadium and how to pay for it. The Vikings ownership group wants to place a new stadium in the Twin Cities suburb of Arden Hills on the site of an old U.S. Army Ammunition Plant while the state government seems to be favoring a site in Minneapolis near the Vikings current stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The problem of how to finance either of these proposed stadiums has been the most troublesome factor, especially in an economic climate where new taxes or raised tax rates are extremely unwise. Both stadium plans have called for the state and county governments to contribute a substantial portion of the financial bill and that has met with widespread opposition from the residents of the counties and many other Minnesotans. Due to this, the financing problem is fast becoming the albatross around the neck of the effort to keep the Vikings in Minnesota with a new stadium.

There is a solution to this standoff, believe it or not. It is based on a rule many parents use with children who have irreconcilable choices centering around what movie they want to watch, which park they want to go to, where they want to go out to eat and so on. If you cannot agree on the preferred choices, then scrap them and talk about other options. The Vikings and the State of Minnesota should do the same.

How would we do that? Simple. There are more Vikings Stadium proposals then the two currently being discussed. Throw out the plans which would place the Vikings Stadium in Arden Hills or Minneapolis and look at the other two options which have been presented and mostly ignored to provide the solution. The stadium plans which have the Vikings either placing their stadium in Shakopee, just south of the Twin Cities, or in Minnesota’s great port on the Great Lakes: Duluth. Re-focus the debate to these two proposals, and it is pretty certain that a solution will be found which will be more beneficial for all involved then the two plans currently being discussed.

What is there to like about both proposals? For one, both stadium proposals do not call for raising taxes, which would make it easier for the fans to accept. Shakopee’s plan calls for racino funding to pay for the stadium, which, while a bit controversial, is worth debating on and has been gaining some support. Duluth’s plan calls for raising revenue by allowing liquor stores to remain open on Sundays, thus bringing in tax money without raising taxes or tax rates. Both options have potential and are definitely worth the debate if they will not adversely affect the citizens of Minnesota economically.

The Shakopee site has the advantage of a completely clean site ready to begin construction immediately. No expensive, extensive and lengthy environmental clean-up would be needed like the Arden Hills site requires. Also no building tear-downs and pavement bulldozing would be needed like the Minneapolis site requires. The site is ready to build on. At $920 million, the site would be the second cheapest to build on after the Metrodome site with the advantage to this price tag being that, unlike the Metrodome, no demolition or extensive re-building would be needed.

In addition, the stadium would be placed among many of Shakopee’s big entertainment parks, such as the racing track at Canterbury Park and the nationwide-famous entertainment park ValleyFair. This would help attract even more fans and would raise even more money for the people of Minnesota as several Vikings fans, like yours truly, come from out of state to see their team and many would naturally enjoy themselves at many of the other attractions which would be surrounding the stadium. Finally, in its biggest advantage, the site would be just across the Minnesota River from Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota where the Vikings hold their practices during the season. It would make traveling for the team very simple indeed.

Here is the layout of the plans for the Shakopee Stadium Site: The Minnesota Vikings Shakopee Stadium.

The Duluth site, like Shakopee, also has the advantage of not needing environmental clean-up or bulldozed buildings or pavement. The site already has had it done. The price tag has not been set, but seeing as the site has already been cleaned, it should be around the same amount that the Shakopee site has been estimated at. Duluth, like Shakopee, is one of Minnesota’s great tourism sites, though for its scenery and not amusement parks, and having the Vikings based there would also draw in more tourists and raise revenue for the people of Minnesota. Finally, it would place the Vikings in a similar situation to what the Green Bay Packers enjoy in their lake-side location in Green Bay. The stadium would be built on the shore of Lake Superior’s main tributary, the St. Louis River, and would provide a gorgeous scenic background for Vikings fans to enjoy as they come to watch their team.

Here is the layout of the plans for the Duluth Stadium Site: The Minnesota Vikings Duluth Stadium

So there it is. The Minnesota Vikings ownership group and the State of Minnesota should scrap the Arden Hills and Minneapolis sites and proceed with a constructive debate on the Shakopee and Duluth sites. This would likely lead to real results and a great new stadium for a team which needs one. It would keep the Vikings in Minnesota, possibly for good, and end all talk about re-locating the team to Los Angeles or San Antonio. Finally, Vikings fans would be able to re-focus their energies towards cheering their team on towards their first Super Bowl victory. Skol Vikings!

© 2012 New Agora and The Subsidiarity Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be re-published, re-broadcast, re-written or re-distributed without written permission from author.

Cory Merrifield, founder of SavetheVikes.org, echoed similar — albeit more optimistic — sentiments. Merrifield’s organization has selected 50 “Grassroots Quarterbacks” who are spearheading efforts to ensure the Vikings do not end up residing in a new state, just as the Minnesota North Stars did eighteen years ago.

On Wednesday evening, the quarterbacks were welcomed to Winter Park by Vikings’ Vice President of Public Affairs Lester Bagley. Bagley presented the case for a new stadium and was followed by Merrifield outlining plans to promote the efforts. The evening concluded with Vikings’ Assistant Director of Public Affairs Jeff Anderson leading a tour of the team’s facilities.

Bagley painted a grim picture of the team’s situation in the Metrodome. Reiterating that their lease with the facility expires in one year, he belabored the point of the Dome “not being a long-term viable stadium.” He added that new stadium legislation currently under consideration would allow his team to better compete and not require the “significant subsidies” currently paid to the team through NFL revenue sharing.

The Vikings are currently in talks with officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties for possible stadium sites. Negotiations are moving ahead on a site in Arden Hills and two sites in Minneapolis: The current Metrodome space or the North Loop area. For the North Loop area, Bagley floated the idea of creating a “sports complex” that consisted of baseball’s Target Field, basketball’s Target Center, and a new Vikings stadium.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to the Minnesota state legislature. When asked about a timeline for a bill to be introduced, Bagley replied that “it would be in the next couple weeks.”

The Vikings are yet to see a copy of any piece of legislation, and with only 10 weeks left in the current session, the team is forced to idly sit by and wait, much like they have for the past ten years. That’s where Cory Merrifield and his 50 quarterbacks hope to step in.

With a push to fans and local legislators, the group is hoping to stop the Vikings from following in the footsteps of their former hockey brethren.

Merrifield is counting on his efforts to create a permanent home for the Vikings in Minnesota. One that feels nothing like the North Stars.