By Alysha Bohanon
After backing an alternate site less than a week ago, Gov. Mark Dayton told Vikings' owner Zygi Wilf Monday night that a new stadium would have to be built at the current Metrodome site for Legislature to pass a deal this year, news sources report.
According to the Minnesota Daily, Dayton's push for the Metrodome site comes after he supported the Linden Avenue site near the Basilica of St. Mary at a press conference less than a week ago.
Another preferred option is the Arden Hills site in Ramsey County.
Although the governor referred to the Metrodome as a "default" stadium site only last week, he now defends the option, calling it a "very, very attractive site," the Star Tribune reports.
Dayton said Wilf was "disappointed and frustrated" by the news, according to the Star Tribune. He explained that his sudden change in opinion came after realizing that an analysis of the Linden Avenue site could not be finished in time for legislators to pass a deal for the stadium this year.
The Legislature convened Tuesday, and the stadium debate will be an item of heavy discussion over the course of the session, which ends this spring.
If a stadium is built at the Metrodome, the Vikings would have to play three seasons at TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota, costing millions of dollars in necessary upgrades and lost revenue, the Minnesota Daily reports.
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