Well, it's months overdue. But St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's "big idea" about financing sports stadiums still is hugely welcome. It's something rare in stadium debates: a plan that's intriguing and new, an unexpected approach that shakes things up like a surprise onside kick in a Vikings game.
Coleman gets great credit for his fresh idea. He'll lose a few points because his plan is wildly parochial, favoring St. Paul to a comical degree.
But the specifics of which-stadium-goes-where are less important than the financing plan, which could not only build a Vikings stadium but also improve other sports venues to boot.
"Two cents a drink." That's the heart of Coleman's idea: Add a 2-cent fee to alcoholic drinks sold in bars statewide.
The proposal has a lot going for it. First, it recognizes that all of Minnesota -- not just the metro area -- benefits from the Twin Cities' lineup of professional sports.
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Minnesotans from Ely to Pipestone watch, follow and take pride in the teams and benefit from the "big league" status they confer upon the Twin Cities.
And as Coleman points out, many of the strongest fans watch games in bars on big-screen TVs. The 2-cent-a-drink fee taps that fan support in a useful but not confiscatory way (unlike, say, a 10-center-a-drink fee, which voters and lawmakers almost certainly wouldn't permit).
Moreover, by calling the charge a "fee" rather than a "tax," Coleman boosts the odds of winning Republican lawmakers' votes. Don't believe it? Talk to former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who had taken the No New Taxes pledge but then signed an increase in cigarette "fees."
Then there's the fact that the plan would raise a fair amount of money: Some $48 million a year, enough not only to finance the state's share of a new Vikings stadium but also renovate the Xcel Center in St. Paul, forgive state loans on the Target Center in Minneapolis, pay for part of a new baseball stadium for the minor-league St. Paul Saints and even kick in $5 million a year for sports facilities around the state.
Again, the plan puts St. Paul as the center of Minnesota's sports universe. Most notably, it calls for the paid-off Target Center to be unceremoniously torn down and its tenant Timberwolves basketball team to play in St. Paul.
Why would Minneapolis agree to such a thing, even if it could get a new Vikings stadium as a result? As Minneapolis City Council President Barbara Johnson noted, that's hardly a fair trade.
It would be "ridiculous"' to give up Target Center, she told the Star Tribune.
"It provides us with events many, many times a year, many more than the Vikings playing at the Metrodome," she said. "We're a big enough metro to support two" arenas.
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But again, the details are less important than the fact that Coleman has energized a tired debate. Here's hoping sports fans across the state follow his lead and the "big ideas" really start to fly.
-- Tom Dennis for the Herald
