Minneapolis city leaders got off the sidelines Monday in the competition for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium, arguing the facility should be downtown rather than in suburban Arden Hills.

“We’ve stood back quietly for the past six months and been supportive of the Wilfs’ favorite site, which is in Arden Hills,” Mayor R.T. Rybak said.

“We give great credit to people like the leaders of the Ramsey County Board who’ve taken leadership…but it’s also important for us to articulate and articulate more strongly that the best place for the Vikings to be is in downtown Minneapolis.

“We believe we have at least one and probably three great options that are all more viable than the current plan that’s on the table,” Rybak continued.

The Arden Hills proposal “has not gotten done, and it seems to be in a very difficult stage here at the Legislature,” he said.

The Vikings, as they have for months, said they’re committed to Ramsey County.

“There’s one viable plan, and the Vikings are entirely focused on resolving the stadium issue in Arden Hills,” said Lester Bagley, the team’s vice president for public affairs and stadium development.

He said Rybak had not set up a meeting with team owners to pitch a renewed Minneapolis plan.

Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett, one of the architects of the Arden Hills plan, said he stands by it.

“I think it’s a great site,” Bennett said.

The Arden Hills plan calls for a $1.1 billion stadium complex on 430 acres of former Army ammunition plant land in the northern suburbs. Ramsey County would contribute $350 million, the state $300 million and the team at least $420 million.

Monday’s pitch from Rybak and city council President Barb Johnson was the latest in recent days involving possibilities in Minneapolis.

Gov. Mark Dayton has said he wants specific plans submitted in the next week or so.

He plans to unveil his own recommendation Nov. 7 and hopes to call a special legislative session to act on a stadium bill Nov. 21-23.

Rybak and Johnson spoke to the media Monday outside the governor’s office after meeting with Dayton for nearly an hour.

Rybak said he and Johnson still prefer the plan they proposed in May to retrofit the Metrodome for the Vikings. But he said a plan for the Farmers’ Market site and for a parcel near the Basilica of St. Mary are possibilities, too.

Rybak said a downtown stadium could be financed with a citywide sales tax and said he would not support a referendum on the issue.

Johnson said she thinks the city council would approve a casino in downtown’s Block E. Rybak said he could support using casino revenue for a stadium if money were made available to support the city’s American Indian residents.

“We will not do any project that doesn’t also involve redoing Target Center,” Rybak said.

He said he believes the cost of building a stadium at the Dome and renovating Target Center would be $200 million less than the expected $1.1 billion cost of the Arden Hills complex.

He said he would release further details of the plan in the next week.

Answering questions from the media after Rybak and Johnson spoke, Dayton said he’s still open to proposals and won’t commit to a specific plan until Nov. 7.

He previously had said he would announce his choice for a site on that date, but Monday he said it “remains to be seen” whether he will.

Clearly, he said, the Wilfs want Arden Hills. But, Dayton added, “there are also some very real unanswered questions about the viability of the Arden Hills site, particularly the county sales tax proposal and whether or not the Legislature will require a referendum.”

Dayton is scheduled to discuss the issue with legislative leaders Friday.

Doug Belden can be reached at 651-228-5136.