After tepid state response, Wild and St. Paul scale back Xcel Energy Center renovation plans

St. Paul city officials and the Minnesota Wild are scaling back plans to renovate the Xcel Energy Center complex with a new pitch for $50 million from the state, a fraction of their original request.

After legislators’ icy response to the March proposal of $769 million, half of which would have come from the state, the city and NHL team offered a $488 million alternative Thursday that focuses solely on the 25-year-old arena.

The previous plan included improvements to the adjacent Roy Wilkins Auditorium and St. Paul RiverCentre. The city, which owns all three facilities, would likely seek funding for those upgrades in future years, according to a news release.

Under the new proposal, St. Paul and local partners would contribute $200 million, and the Wild would cover the rest of the costs. The state dollars would help the arena increase accessibility, reduce congestion, update restroom plumbing and improve security by expanding the north wall along 5th Street.

The more modest request could still be a tough sell at the Capitol, where the Legislature is set to adjourn in less than three weeks. Several lawmakers in both chambers expressed concerns during initial presentations from Mayor Melvin Carter and Wild owner Craig Leipold, citing the state’s projected budget crunch, economic headwinds and uncertainty about federal funding.

“We recognize the serious financial decisions ahead of our lawmakers, which is why it’s important to make strategic and timely investments that move our state forward,” Carter said in a statement Thursday. “Renovating the Xcel Energy Center protects one of our most valuable assets, all while setting St. Paul and our region up for job creation, revitalization and economic growth.”

In an interview Thursday as he was preparing to head to the Capitol ahead of the Wild’s evening playoff game, Leipold said the reduced request for the state has been received “really, really well” by lawmakers in the past week.

“We didn’t change the scope of the arena,” he said. “It’s going to be everything that we wanted this to be. … The difference is that we have, with the city, decided this is too critically important. We need to get it done this year — and so we have stepped up, and we are going to be putting more into the project."

Leipold said rising construction costs and added cost increases associated with tariffs are also driving the project’s sense of urgency. The Wild agreed to cover any cost overruns for the arena.

Downtown St. Paul’s elected officials, DFL Sen. Sandy Pappas and Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, were among the most vocal skeptics earlier this spring, noting a number of competing asks for state money. A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill for the appropriation in April.

Pérez-Vega declined a request for comment Thursday.

“The days of large state expenditures for professional sports is probably over,” former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said during a news conference in March. “The Minnesota Vikings at the U.S. Bank Stadium is probably the last time you’re going to see that for a while due to fiscal conservatives on the Republican side and social progressives on the Democratic side.”

In his appeal to lawmakers, Leipold has emphasized the precedent of state assistance for such projects, both in Minnesota and around the country. He said he’s committed to keeping the Wild in St. Paul, though he’s had options to move the team elsewhere.

He added the Wild will contribute funding to future improvements of Roy Wilkins Auditorium and St. Paul RiverCentre.

“Honestly, we don’t get much benefit out of those,” Leipold said. " But it is so valuable to our community."

Officials say the arena is nearing the end of its competitive lifespan. The proposed remodel would include upgraded seating options, new HVAC systems and wiring, a second escalator and updates to the facility’s bathrooms, kitchens and locker rooms.

City leaders have also said renovations are key to their broader downtown revitalization efforts, arguing improvements will boost the facility’s economic impact and spark more private development in the urban core. In the first quarter of this year, the arena welcomed more than 1 million visitors for Wild and Frost hockey games, concerts, high school sporting events and more, according to the release.

“Since 2000, the Xcel Energy Center has been the economic engine of downtown St. Paul, and we’re excited for the opportunity to build on this success,” Leipold said in a statement. “St. Paul is uniquely positioned to become a gleaming example nationwide of forward-thinking revitalization. The Wild is committed to our home in the capital of the state of hockey, and we’re proud to invest in the future of St. Paul.”

Staff writer Nathaniel Minor contributed to this report.