"Lots of parking, lots of room for tailgate events, and it would be a shot in the arm for the northern burbs. Little did we know that the Wilfs were just dancing with us, and there would be no follow up date."
Well our newest shebang in town in now open for business! And just in a tick of time I might add. Our boys in purple are about ready to break training camp before too long. They will be heading for the cities to use our new Taj Mahal as a venue to beat the crap out of other football teams. Since this glass palace was so darned expensive to build, we are expecting great things this season!
Hold one, just for a second please. It seems there is already a bit of belly aching about our new eyesore. Yes, we actually had a soccer game there between two teams most people have never heard off. It was scheduled to be a "test drive" of the new joint, and get lots of "ohs" and "ahs" to follow. Anyway, that was the plan.
The city planners, as well as the stadium commission, had it all figured out. By the way, did I already mention the city planners and stadium commission are made up of politically appointed statists? Anyway, I digress. Should you be foolish enough to drive your car to a game, bring your checkbook. Twenty dollars is common should you park close to the event. BUT, the power elite don't want to to drive. They want everyone to take LRT choo choo trains. And boy, did that turn out to be a mess for the soccer game.
First a bit of history. There was a time, the Wilf brothers were dancing with Anoka County. As a perfect location to build a sports complex. Somehow, I got invited as a concerned citizen (of Anoka county) to attend some of the meetings. They had an excellent location picked out for the complex. The Wilfs, with all their east coast real estate acumen, were going to take this chunk of land off of I-35 in Blaine, and turn it into something very special. The stadium was going to be like the old Met Stadium. Lots of parking, lots of room for tailgate events, easy access to a major freeway, and it would be a shot in the arm for the northern burbs. Little did we know that the Wilfs were just dancing with us. There would be no follow up date.
Next, the Wilfs made a deal with Hennepin County. Many thought the Wilfs only used Anoka County as a pawn for leverage to build a stadium downtown. Then, very contested funding needed to build it. Our state government bent over backwards to please the billionaire Wilf brothers. So the stadium turned out to be partially taxpayer funded. And the entire project cost just north of a billion dollars. But build it we did, and it was now ready for throngs of people to come via light rail to watch a soccer game.
Oops. Did I fail to mention that putting tens of thousands of people all at one time on a light rail platform could lead to a 90 minute wait for some? It seems the city planners forgot one small economic principle - supply and demand. For the soccer game, the demand to use LRT far outstripped the supply. Oh yes, some of the vendors ran out of food also, but that can easily be fixed before the first pre-season football game.
The LRT issue is going to be a tough nut to crack. I can't wait to see how our loyal Viking fans, with a snoot full of liquor, are going to handle a long wait time after the game. But - this is what the power elite wanted. Maybe the next step will be to have people excused by rows once the game is over. That would help with the inadequate LRT facilities. Or not.
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