What's best for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame? Its home on the Range or a move to St. Paul?

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum, long a roadside attraction in the heart of Minnesota's hockey country, might not call Eveleth's Hat Trick Avenue home for much longer.

A proposal by the Minnesota Wild to move the museum to the much higher profile Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul was presented during a recent meeting of the museum's board of directors — with the board split on the idea. Relocating to St. Paul, where a massive renovation is planned for the Wild's 25-year-old home at Xcel and the surrounding area, would draw more foot traffic to the museum.

Those opposed to the move say tradition should come before ticket sales.

"The location in Eveleth is as much a part of the history as the memorabilia in it," said Dante Tomassoni, a member of the museum's executive committee whose late father, David Tomassoni, served in the Minnesota Legislature for nearly 30 years after his professional hockey career ended. Dante Tomassoni joined the board after his father, a longtime member, died.

State Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, chair of the nonprofit's board of directors, told Duluth television news station Northern News Now that growing the sport of hockey means bringing more exposure to Eveleth — and Minnesota's — hockey legends. St. Paul offers that exposure.

In an emailed statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Housley confirmed that the board is exploring a potential move and that discussions have included the city of Eveleth and the Minnesota Wild and that the discussions will need more stakeholders going forward.

"We anticipate that the process will take several months," she said. "Any change would require a majority vote of the [U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum board of directors]."

"We acknowledge how important the Eveleth community is to the sport," she wrote. "Any potential move would need to honor that legacy and identify a project for Eveleth that would provide even greater benefits to the community."

The distinct three-story brick building with its thick white overhanging roof, USA hockey logo on the side and trio of flags, is just off Hwy. 53 about an hour north of Duluth. The tribute to hockey in the United States was conceived of in the late 1960s by D. Kelly Campbell, a local mining executive who never played the sport. The city's civic association made an appeal to an early iteration of USA Hockey, the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States, and it was approved.

Seven years later, the $1 million building was completed.

The history of hockey unfolds inside: Storied jerseys, a dangling antique scoreboard, written recollections of Eveleth High School's on-ice dominance, tributes to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's men's and women's teams, and photos of John Mariucci who played for Eveleth, the Gophers and Chicago Blackhawks. There is a space for coach Herb Brooks and the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" squad and a retro Zamboni.

Every year, a new class of inductees is added.

Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, is determined to keep the Hall of Fame in Eveleth, which he described as a "proud hockey community."

The mining money has left the area, he points out.

"Now we have people tying to take culture and history," said Hauschild. "People need to stay out of our business."

Hauschild wrote a letter to the hall of fame's board, posted on social media and has written an editorial in the Mesabi Tribune. He's working on a resolution opposing the move and said he would like to pass a bill restricting capital investment bonding dollars from being used for relocation.

In an emailed response to lawmakers obtained by the Star Tribune, board member Mitchell Brunfelt, highlighted the museum's funding sources: A $100,000 annual grant from the state through the Minnesota Historical Society, $70,000 from taconite production taxes, and in recent years a $50,000 grant for capital improvements. He called it a "barely functioning enterprise."

Eveleth board members have talked about how it's financially solvent, he wrote.

"The reason it is financially solvent is that there are virtually no activities taking place there," he wrote. "The persona that has been created that there is a significant, functioning, and major sports hall of fame located in Eveleth, Minnesota is a bit of fiction."

The hall of fame draws about 9,000 visitors a year — including hockey teams playing in tournaments on the Iron Range. At times in its history, the venue has briefly closed because of its light attendance.

Both sides agree that the current building needs tending — structurally and in beefing up its displays.

Tomassoni points to other sports museums that are smaller-town staples. The Baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, not Manhattan, he said, and the pro football Hall of Fame is in Canton, Ohio, not Cleveland.

"Part of the history of Minnesota hockey were these blue-collar families whose lives were changed when their kids got hockey scholarships," he said.

This isn't the first time there has been talk of uprooting the museum. In the 1980s, Gov. Rudy Perpich, the Minnesota North Stars and the Hall of Fame's directors batted around plans to move it to the Met Center in Bloomington.

"Locating the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth was never conditioned on the town being able to attract massive migrations of tourists," Star Tribune columnist Jim Klobuchar wrote at the time. "The choice of Eveleth had no merit other than one: It was right."

Though when it was built, an official from the NHL, which contributed $100,000 to the project, said "the shrine" was only accessible by dog sled.