A group of about 18 people gathered on the corner of Summit and Cretin avenues on Monday morning to protest the building of the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena on South Campus.
The group, which calls itself Advocates for Responsible Development, is made up of residents of the Macalester-Groveland and Union Park neighborhoods near campus. The same group filed a petition with the Minnesota Court of Appeals against the University of St. Thomas on Nov. 1, 2023. The ARD’s website states that the environmental, safety and parking concerns associated with the arena create a bigger problem for the community than the university claims.
“We are here because we are concerned that the arena is being built in the middle of a neighborhood,” Gayle Breutzman of Woodlawn Avenue said. “We’re very familiar with the environmental assessment worksheet and what that contains. We are concerned St. Thomas doesn’t have mitigation solutions for traffic and parking.”
Members of ARD said they feel that as residents of the neighborhood, they were not well included in the plans of building a new arena.
“The neighbors don’t feel that the St. Thomas board has really spoken with the neighbors,” Breutzman said.
In an email to TommieMedia, the University of St. Thomas stated that it discussed the new building with the neighborhoods.
“St. Thomas has participated in many community meetings and individual conversations with neighbors to address these concerns, while sharing the arena development plans in a transparent and collaborative manner,” the university wrote. “The university will continue to engage with the community and create opportunities for ongoing dialogue throughout this project.”
Though the university completed an Environmental Assessment Worksheet required by the City of St. Paul, they did not complete an Environmental Impact Statement, which the city did not require. According to the ARD’s website, the EAW was insufficient, and state law requires an EIS for a project of this size.
“They didn’t do any greenhouse gas analysis,” protestor Tom Alf said. “They did an environmental assessment, but it sounds like they didn’t fully take into account the refrigeration for the two rinks.”
The ARD’s website notes that 68 mature trees were removed for the building of the arena and that there will be an increase in smog from circling buses and cars searching for parking. They are also concerned about the arena sitting on top of the Mississippi River bluff and how it could change groundwater flows.
“It’s going to be very close to the river system, and that’s not mentioned at all, so we are worried about that,” Alf said.
According to St. Thomas Associate Professor Paul Lorah from the Earth, Environment and Society department, any development of this size would have an environmental impact. However, the closeness of the location to campus could minimize the amount of cars coming to sport events, as opposed to if it were off-campus.
“Having it on campus means that students can walk to games and it is accessible by mass transit, so that’s likely better than building it out in the suburbs,” Lorah wrote in an email to TommieMedia.
Lorah still has concerns regarding other issues.
“My real environmental concern is the amount of material and energy it will take to build and run the facility, but those costs exist for other sites as well,” Lorah wrote. “I think that community members are smart to start a discussion on parking, though. I hope UST works with them to limit disruptions for neighbors on game days.”
Parking has already been a concern for students on campus after 265 parking spaces were removed for construction, and the issue is extending into the surrounding neighborhood.
“With that many people coming in at one time, that’s gonna be a traffic issue as well,” protestor Dan Kennedy said. “And so you will have clogged streets with hundreds of cars trying to find parking spots that don’t really exist.”
The university also wrote that it has plans to search for options to resolve this issue.
“The university is committed to develop a plan that aligns with the city’s goals and policies, while also exploring the creation of additional parking lots on campus that could alleviate the concerns of fans parking on residential streets during the small number of expected full-capacity events held on campus,” the university wrote.
Though the arena is only in construction stages, Breutzman has seen the traffic jammed already.
“There’s already been lanes closed, and there has been personnel out trying to direct traffic sometimes,” Breutzman said. “In the mornings and in the evenings, it gets very busy.”
St. Thomas was granted an extension on a brief response to the Court of Appeals until Feb. 15, the brief is currently unviewable in the Minnesota Appellate Courts case management system.
Breutzman and other protesters mainly want to point out their concerns and continue with discussion.
“We really think there needs to be a lot more involvement with the neighborhoods, so that we can work out problems, so everyone can get along and make this work for everybody,” Breutzman said.
St. Thomas said that it is aware of negative reactions to the arena but it has also received positive feedback.
“The university has also heard from many community members who are excited about the arena and support the vibrancy that St. Thomas brings to the neighborhood and the city as a whole,” the university wrote.
Elaina Mankowski can be reached at mank2823@stthomas.edu
Cecilia Wallace can be reached at wall1238@stthomas.edu.
Daniela Kopřivová can be reached at kopr1448@stthomas.edu.
A previous version of this story stated that St. Thomas is required by state law to file an EIS and that it was granted an extension on providing it. The City of St. Paul did not require one on the Anderson Arena project. This story has been corrected.
Like city government in Minneapolis and St, Paul UST goes through a big show of community meetings, then goes ahead with whatever it wants to do.