The cost for the reconstruction project, which would add aretractable roof to the closed dome in the Downtown, is now knownyet, according to the commission. Steve Maki, director offacilities and engineering for the commission, tells GlobeSt.comthat he's thrown out the figure of $800 million, but "that's just aguess." He says he's seen numbers that include $954 million and$850 million. "I think we're expecting it to be north of $800million, but we don't know what it's going to cost. It's dependenton the new design," Maki says.

The commission said in a statement that it expects to have adesign and a price by March 2009, with a goal to have thereconstructed stadium completed by 2012. "The Vikings' useagreement expires after the 2011 season, and our goal is to retainthe team for the long term, so we hope to have something by then.That doesn't mean we couldn't sign a year-to-year lease, as long asthings were moving forward," Maki says.

The Twins are leaving to their own $522 million new ballpark by2010, to get away from playing baseball in a corner of the footballfield, a spokesman has told GlobeSt.com. There was talk of theVikings leaving for a proposed new $800 million stadium in LosAngeles, and Minnesota has had other problems to worry about,including the bridge collapse about a mile away from the currentstadium, built in 1982 for $55 million.