Top Dayton Aide To Lead Vikings Stadium Authority

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A top aide to Gov. Mark Dayton has been named to oversee construction of a $975 million Vikings stadium as head of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority.

Dayton on Thursday appointed deputy chief of staff Michele Kelm-Helgen as the panel's chairwoman.

He also named Target vice president John Griffith and former Minnesota Business Partnership director Duane Benson to the authority.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak chose Dr. Barbara Butts Williams, a dean at Capella University, and Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation president Bill McCarthy.

The five-member authority oversees a public investment of nearly $500 million in the stadium, which will be built on the Metrodome site in downtown Minneapolis.

The authority has the option of overseeing the construction project and will operate the new stadium for other uses ranging from concerts to high school sports.

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