A $75 million naming gift from longtime benefactors Lee and Penny Anderson has cleared the way for a multiuse arena on St. Thomas’ south campus, starting fundraising for a project with an estimated price tag of $175 million, the university announced Tuesday.

It is the largest monetary gift ever given to a Minnesota university, and one of the 10 largest collegiate athletic gifts ever given nationally, according to the university. The Lee and Penny Anderson Arena will be the new home to the university’s hockey and basketball teams, with an expected opening in the fall of 2025.

“It’s not just the magnitude of the gift that makes it noteworthy,” St. Thomas President Rob Vischer said. “This gift will enrich our student experience and campus life; the experience of our college athletics is key to community building.”

Vischer’s address highlighted the university’s vision to become the foremost Catholic university in the nation, and to do so St. Thomas’ way.

The university made an unprecedented jump from Division III to Division I athletics in the fall of 2021, becoming the first school to make the jump.

“Undeniably, Division I is exciting, and it’s taking us on an exciting journey,” Vischer said. “But as we continue this journey, we will maintain our unshakeable focus on what the Common Good requires of us today.”

Though neither Anderson attended St. Thomas, the couple has a long history of philanthropy with the university. They were the main contributors to the construction of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Center, Anderson Student Center and Anderson Parking Facility. The Andersons gifted $60 million to the university in 2007 which, at the time, was the largest single contribution to a Minnesota school by an individual or couple.

Notably, the announcement was made in another building named after the couple, the Anderson Student Center. Speakers included Vischer, men’s hockey coach Rico Blasi, vice president and director of athletics Phil Esten, and women’s basketball guard Jade Hill. All expressed their gratitude for the Andersons’ gift.

At a press conference after the announcement, athletes and coaches spoke to the benefits of the arena, and administration addressed on-campus effects.

“It’s just huge to see the progress St. Thomas is making over these years,” Hill said. “I think it’s fun to be a part of this huge experience.”

Tommies women’s basketball coach Ruth Sinn said the new facility will give the university a chance to enhance its community and mission.

“They (student-athletes) came here, not because of these things, but because of what that mission is,” Sinn said. “It’s incomprehensible what we’re going to get to experience through this facility.”

To make room for the arena, the University will demolish McCarthy Gym, Cretin Hall and the service center on South Campus. There are no immediate plans to build new student housing.

“It’s something we always have to be looking at because we want to maintain that robust campus culture,” Vischer said. “But right now, we have the capacity to accommodate the loss of Cretin Hall.”

The University expects to break ground in 2024.

Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu