It looks like we may soon be getting a new Twins stadium in Minneapolis. This could be the finale in a decade-long public debate about whether to build a new baseball stadium for the Twins. Everyone agrees that the cavernous, sterile Metrodome is a terrible forum for almost any professional or collegiate sport. I’ve been to the Dome for a variety of sporting events. As a venue for professional football, it’s tolerable. For baseball and college football, it’s depressing. A new stadium in the Warehouse District, with views of the downtown skyline, could be a splendid setting for a baseball game. The proposed financing deal is probably the best we can hope for. The owners will put up $125 million; the other half will come from a .015% sales tax increase in Hennepin County. A lot of county residents want to put the issue to a referendum, but the County Commission has already approved the tax increase. Now it’s up to the legislature to give final approval. I can understand how people continue to be upset about using public dollars for a stadium. As Jay Weiner, a fellow Humphrey Fellow and a local sports writer, likes to point out, a new sports stadium does not necessarily translate into economic benefits for the host city. But the tax amounts to only three cents on every twenty dollars. I’m not a huge baseball fan, but I’d like to see the Twins stay in Minnesota. And if we do get a new outdoor stadium, I might be persuaded to actually go to a few games.
