Minnesota Wild, St. Paul Saints make their pitches to state lawmakers for major bonding dollars
The Minnesota Wild want to take the city's 25-year-old hockey arena into the future, with lounge-style seating areas and other fresh amenities. The city of St. Paul wants to host big-name concerts, tournaments, conventions and trade shows, and more of them, to give city tax coffers — and downtown in particular — a badly-needed boost. The St. Paul Saints want $16 million in improvements at CHS Field in Lowertown, including a Ferris wheel.
On Thursday, state lawmakers from both parties reminded them all that none of their asks would come cheap, if they get funded at all.
Sitting shoulder to shoulder within a State Capitol hearing room, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold asked a key committee of House lawmakers for nearly $400 million in state bonding funds to cover half the proposed cost of a $796 million renovation of the Xcel Energy Center and the adjoining RiverCentre Convention Center.
'We're creating a city anchor where people want to be, a hub of energy, business and community that reverberates beyond our border,' said Carter, addressing members of the House Capital Investment Committee.
'Xcel Energy Center is now at the edge of its intended life span,' said Leipold, who has lived downtown for 16 years. 'Over the last few years, we've visited arenas in downtowns across the country, and seen firsthand how similar investment can literally transform communities. … This is the vital economic engine driving St. Paul. It's hard to imagine St. Paul without it.'
Lawmakers from both parties — including Democratic-Farmer-Labor state representatives from St. Paul and Minneapolis — called the size of the Xcel Center ask little short of startling, given grim state budget forecasts, growing talk of a possible national economic slowdown and uncertain federal grant funding for public infrastructure.
Minutes after glowingly introducing the Saints request for $8 million in state bond funds to cover ballpark improvements, state Rep. Maria Perez-Vega, DFL-St. Paul, criticized Carter and Leipold for surprising her with a large ask in the 'front yard of my community' without first sharing with her the specifics. The mayor's office said their presentation was informational, and a written bill was not been presented to lawmakers.
'If this is the number one priority for the city that I love … I'd like to see more effort to deliver this information to my office,' said Perez-Vega, after listing a litany of other St. Paul priorities, from homelessness to climate concerns, where tax dollars could be spent. 'I want to talk off the record more, and I would appreciate those discussions with you and I, Mr. Leipold.'
State Rep. Fue Lee, a DFLer who represents North Minneapolis and co-chairs the House Capital Investment Committee, said a $394 million state appropriation bond would translate to an estimated $32 million a year increase in the debt service paid through the state general fund. That number may change depending upon interest rates and whether the funding was structured as one bond sale or three.
'There's some talk that we might not even have a bonding bill this year,' said Lee, noting the Minnesota Vikings are likely to ask for funding for new fencing at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. 'Is this the right time to look at some of these appropriation bonds?'
Republican lawmakers seemed no less skeptical.
Introducing the presentations on the Saints and Xcel arena requests, committee co-chair Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, said, 'Next up, members, we have two bills that I understand are controversial.' She then acknowledged that both projects held statewide importance, and then qualified that remark, noting that opinion could also be construed as controversial.
Among the improvements, Leipold said the Xcel renovation will create new types of seating areas more in line with modern demand, including low-cost, lounge-style community viewing rooms. Under the title 'Project Wow,' the Wild have attempted to lure the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame from Eveleth, Minn. to downtown St. Paul, a move supported by the chair of the museum's board of directors, state Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, but opposed by some of the area's state lawmakers.
In a letter of support from the St. Paul Area Chamber, President and CEO B. Kyle noted that the arena complex, which includes the convention center and Roy Wilkins Auditorium, draws nearly 2 million visitors to some 400 annual events, generating nearly $500 million in economic impact between spending, state and local sales tax, hotel stays and more. The renovations could boost that spending by another $110 million, she said.
Carter said downtown St. Paul faces tough challenges, with plummeting building values biting into the city's tax base in the era of remote work and 'the sudden passing of our largest property owner downtown,' a reference to the death last year of James Crockarell, whose Madison Equities properties have been falling into neglect and foreclosure.
Across downtown, the St. Paul Saints have $16 million in improvements lined up for the area surrounding the east entrance to CHS Field, which opened in May 2015. Tom Whaley, executive vice president with the Saints, said those improvements are needed, in part, to keep up with Major League Baseball standards, which have changed. The Minor League Saints became a AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins in 2021.
The funding also will support 'The Wheel at St. Paul,' a large Ferris wheel to be located in the same vicinity as new visiting player facilities, with inspiration taken from popular Ferris wheels in Chicago and St. Louis.
Plans call for relocating visiting player locker rooms from the service level near home plate to an area to be constructed behind the left fielder outfield wall, beneath an existing berm.
A mix of state, city and team funds would also fix a moisture barrier problem that has developed behind the bullpen walls, according to the team, and remove and replace soils that were contaminated with debris, shifted from one part of the site to another and capped during initial ballpark construction.
Whaley on Thursday asked the state to cover half the cost — $8 million — with bonding dollars, with the city and team covering the rest. The request is sponsored by Perez-Vega and Rep. Samakab Hussein, Rep.Athena Hollins and others.
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Politics | St. Paul looks to state for half of $769 million renovation of the Xcel Center
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