Construction on the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena was temporarily halted on April 16 until the City of St. Paul can assess the site’s building plans.
The pause came after members of the Advocates for Responsible Development filed appeals on April 15.
Jerome Benner, director of neighborhood and community relations for St. Thomas, said he didn’t know when construction will resume.
“It’s really up to when we run through the appeals process,” Benner said.
The appeal will be heard by the St. Paul Zoning Committee on May 2 at 3:30 p.m.
Donn Waage, spokesperson for the Advocates for Responsible Development— a neighborhood group that opposes the arena construction — said the site plan warranted an appeal.
“We felt that there were numerous issues where the city really wasn’t paying enough attention to its own policies and law,” Waage said.
A change.org petition established by ARD on March 29, opposing the construction of the arena, received 451 signatures as of April 25.
Waage cited environmental concerns around the storage and use of chemicals at the arena in light of its proximity to the Mississippi River bluff.
“Ammonia and ethylene glycol … are toxic chemicals and have been spilled many times at different ice arenas,” Waage said.
In December of last year, a refrigeration malfunction at an Anoka County ice arena caused ammonia levels to rise ten times above the safe limit, and ethylene glycol — a common ingredient in antifreeze — has been found to be harmful to humans and to animal and plant life.
St. Thomas Director of Public Relations Bryce Butzer pointed out that the new arena will be LEED certified and replace old buildings — the service center and Cretin Hall — that were not. The certification recognizes leadership in environmental design and energy and currently recognizes Frey Residence Hall, formerly known as Tommie East.
Along with that, the Environmental Assessment Worksheet submitted in June 2023 to the City of St. Paul stated that “the snow and ice management system at the University of St. Thomas includes a multi-step process to reduce the use of chemicals for salting which includes pretreatment, removal, de-icing and clean up.”
While construction has stopped, the site isn’t abandoned. Benner said that people might notice the crane moving or construction workers still at the site during this pause.
“There are people that are keeping the site stabilized,” Benner said. “It’s an open construction site, so to halt something like that completely isn’t really for the safety and benefit of our community.”
Benner said it’s uncertain whether this will affect the construction timeline. The arena is scheduled to open in fall 2025.
“I think there could be some room for pushback, but in the moment right now, I think we’re still relatively in line,” Benner said. “It’s really hard to say until we have the final scheduled hearings, and we’re still working through that process.”
The May 2 hearing will be held in the City Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, at 15 W. Kellogg Blvd. It will also be streamed live on the city website.
Owen Larson can be reached at lars6521@stthomas.edu.
Adam Mueller contributed to this report.