By Eric Roper and Steve Brandt

The Park Board gave preliminary approval Wednesday night to a plan to take ownership -- in name only -- of the Downtown East park beside the new Vikings stadium.

The committee approval occurred after lengthy late-night discussion by park commissioners. The full board vote is scheduled for Dec. 17, after an expected City Council vote on the proposal on Dec. 12.

The plan is intended to maintain compliance with the city's charter, which grants the Park Board exclusive authority to operate and maintain public parks. That authority was made clear a year ago, when a district court judge said the Park Board must eventually take control of the space.

The proposed lease says the city will transfer the park to the Park Board for $1 after Ryan Companies completes construction. The Park Board will then lease it back to the city for the length of its agreement with the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority over use of the space, but no more than 50 years.

The Park Board previously declined to take control of the park because of the money it would require and the number of days that the city has committed to private uses under its agreement with the Authority.

The Park Board will not be responsible for funding the construction of the park's enhancements, which are expected to cost several million dollars. The lease agreement also says that those enhancements must include the following items:

(i) the design will be comparable to the standards for Gold Medal Park, including mature trees, seating, lighting, and pavement treatments, but without the mound as developed in Gold Medal Park; (ii) the design will provide for flexible programming of the space with an open core, locating any permanent structures on the perimeter; and (iii) the design may, but is not required to, include a playing field with high quality durable turf.

The city intends to have the park's operations and maintanence overseen by a third-party conservancy, which will likely be handled by the new organization Greening Downtown Minneapolis.

Former City Council President Paul Ostrow, who filed a lawsuit in 2013 challenging -- among other things -- the city's authority to control the park, urged park commissioners to reject the agreement.

"Once you approve this agreement you will own this debacle that further subsidizes the Vikings and makes a mockery of the public park system," Ostrow wrote in an e-mail to the board.

He called the plan a "gimmick" aimed at reaching compliance under the charter. "Whether or not such a dubious agreement would pass legal muster there can be no doubt as to your complicity in overriding the clear intent of the charter," Ostrow wrote.

Four of five park commissioners on the board’s administration and finance committee voted for the proposal. They are Anita Tabb, Meg Forney, Jon Olson and Scott Vreeland. Brad Bourn abstained. The proposal will need six votes from the nine commissioners to proceed.