Wild ‘in a tough spot’ over home rejig plans

Image: Xcel Energy Center, Ltp1220, CC BY-SA 4.0

The National Hockey League (NHL) team Minnesota Wild Owner Craig Leipold is expanding his plans for renovating the Wild’s home facility – the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota (US) – to include the construction of a 650-room convention center hotel.

However, Leipold said that they are “in a tough spot” right now taking into account the November 5^th elections in the United States.

‘The Minnesota Star Tribune’ stated that Leipold offered new details on the project while meeting with the media members recently. He and the City officials have been angling for State assistance for the project since late last year but the project has not proceeded.

The Minnesota Wild is a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota (US). The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at the Xcel Energy Center and the team is owned by Craig Leipold.

The 20,554-capacity Xcel Energy Center is a multipurpose arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Completed in the year 2000 and often called ‘The X’ by the fans it is named for its locally-based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy.

As a leading electric and natural gas energy company, Minnesota (US)-based Xcel Energy offer a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.4 million electricity customers and 1.9 million natural gas customers across eight States in the United States: Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

‘The Minnesota Star Tribune’ further stated that it originally included plans to renovate the adjacent Saint Paul RiverCentre (convention center in Saint Paul, Minnesota), a parking ramp and a bridge along Kellogg Boulevard (a street in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota). It was previously estimated to cost around $250 million to $300 million.

The price tag will rise now, Leipold said, but he did not specify how much. A 650-room hotel would surpass in size the 410-room InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront hotel that is already downtown.

Maintained Leipold, “The whole project is so great for downtown Saint Paul and it’s not just the arena. It’s a lot of stuff, so we think it’s great for downtown. It’s good for our fans, good for our market and we’re pushing hard this year.”

Leipold said the Wild would perhaps contribute up to $250 million in financing and would seek further assistance from the State. But he said it’s unclear what the chances are to receive that support given the November elections (the 2024 United States elections are scheduled to be held on November 5^th, 2024).

The Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz’s office said it had not received details of the latest proposal.

Added Leipold, “We’re trying to sell the Legislature and the Governor. The problem is nobody knows who’s going to be running the Legislature, the Republicans or the Democrats. We don’t know who the Governor’s going to be. We’re kind of in a tough spot right now. But ultimately, we need to get the renovations and the upgrades in this arena.”

Saint Paul Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher sent out a statement which read, “We’re incredibly fortunate to have Leipold’s commitment to the future economic development contingent on the needed renovations to our 25-year-old arena. Our hope is that this project will serve as a catalyst for additional growth.”

Leipold said the renovations to the arena, which is City-owned and hosts concerts and other events year-round, are urgently needed. Its construction was completed in the year 2000.

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