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.

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.

In an interview Thursday, Pappas said while she appreciated "the more reasonable proposal" focused on security and key upgrades, she thinks the plan is coming too late for it to pass this session.

"Basically, the governor would have to sweep in with the money, or somebody would have to come up with the money to do it," Pappas said.

Pérez-Vega declined a request for comment.

In making their case, the city and Wild have said renovations are key to 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.

One of the state measure's lead authors, Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten, DFL-St. Paul, said she thinks there's still time to get the bill across the finish line.

"We do have a lot of things that we need to support here at the state," Oumou Verbeten said. "And when we're facing the deficit that we're facing right now, I think an important way to look at that is: What investments do we make right now to make sure that we're making money, we're bringing revenue into the state, so we're not in this situation again in the future?"

In an interview, Carter said the city is still determining exactly how it would cover the local portion of the costs. St. Paul's existing half-cent sales tax could repay about three-quarters of the bonds, but the city would look to other sources for the remaining amount, including possible support from Ramsey County.

After the original proposal, County Board Chair Rafael Ortega said the county wants to help with the important project but added leaders need to be "good stewards" of taxpayer dollars.

St. Paul would also need to find new funding sources for future renovations of the Roy Wilkins Auditorium and St. Paul RiverCentre.

"That is a significant tradeoff," said the mayor, arguing it's needed to create jobs, stabilize a taxpayer-funded facility and boost downtown.

"In an economy like this, it's critical that we pay close attention not just what we spend, but to how we invest for the future," Carter said.

Leipold said the Wild would contribute funding to future improvements of Roy Wilkins Auditorium and St. Paul RiverCentre. In his appeal to lawmakers, he has emphasized the precedent of state assistance for such projects, both in Minnesota and around the country.

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.

Leipold has said he's committed to keeping the Wild in St. Paul, though he's had options to move the team elsewhere. The arena's naming rights are up for grabs, and a new deal could pave the way for a potentially sizable revenue increase to help pay down debt associated with the remodel, he said.

"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."