Calling the home of the Minnesota Wild vital to the future of its downtown, the city of St. Paul will ask state lawmakers to cover half the cost of what’s being pitched as a $769 million, top-to-bottom renovation of the Xcel Energy Center and St. Paul RiverCentre, with the hockey team covering 30% and St. Paul splitting the remaining 20% of the price with Ramsey County.

The proposed overhaul goes beyond sprucing up the 25-year-old, 18,000-seat multi-purpose arena for concerts and hockey fans. It includes a $150 million upgrade to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium and $50 million in improvements to the RiverCentre convention facility, though the bulk of the spending — $569 million — would go to the X.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Wild owner Craig Leipold will unveil their proposal at the House Capital Investment Committee on Thursday and to the Senate next Tuesday.“A renovated arena complex will breathe new life into our city, building on our efforts to attract more world-class events and opportunities for economic growth,” said Carter, in a written statement. “This project will create jobs, bring more people downtown and strengthen our standing as a premier destination to live, work, recreate, and do business.”

Leipold said the team is “excited to build on the success of the arena complex to create an iconic new district for downtown. St. Paul is uniquely positioned to become a gleaming example nationwide of forward-thinking revitalization. Now is the time to rewrite our future.”

Mayor’s office: Arena due for upgrades

The mayor’s office noted that that arena complex predates not just the pandemic, but also the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and is due for major accessibility, technology and building upgrades in order to sustain the number of events and opportunities choosing St. Paul. They predicted the planned renovations will drive concerts, conventions and sporting events to downtown, boosting annual local spending by $110 million.

Still, $394.6 million in state dollars is no small ask at a time when forecasts predict state budget shortfalls by 2028 and the national economic outlook is uncertain.

Ramsey County, which last met with the mayor’s office and Wild officials about 10 days ago, is not yet on board. County Board Chair Rafael Ortega said the county’s focus has been on its long-stalled RiversEdge project, which would replace the former home of West Publishing with new construction overlooking the Mississippi River, from offices and housing to pedestrian plazas, stairways and park space.

Ortega said the county also is seeking to install a transit center by the RiverCentre parking ramp across from the X.

“The county is focused on developing a strong downtown and riverfront as key drivers of economic growth for St. Paul and Ramsey County, strengthening the tax base, creating jobs, and boosting economic vitality,” Ortega said. “The county seeks to ensure the updated arena is part of a broader entertainment district, including the RiversEdge redevelopment … and a transit hub, before considering funding. Balancing investments in critical projects with the responsibility of managing taxpayer dollars is essential.”

Carter and other city leaders have called the home of the Wild a linchpin for a downtown suffering from the departure of thousands of state and private-sector employees who went remote during the pandemic.

Many of those workers have never returned. The state is consolidating its leased office spaces in new buildings closer to University Avenue and has allowed many employees to remain remote, as major employers like the TKDA design and engineering firm have relocated from downtown to the suburbs.

A year ago, the mayor’s office asked lawmakers for $2 million for planning and pre-design work at the Xcel Center, without success. While the city declined to confirm a specific number, project costs were reported at the time to be around $300 million.

Hosts events 130 nights a year

The Xcel Center and its adjoining RiverCentre convention hall host events 130 nights per year, drawing some 2 million visitors per year, and city officials have estimated that between hotel rooms, a hotel occupancy tax, jobs and other related spending, the facility’s overall economic impact adds up to $383 million to $493 million annually.

The city sends $315 million in sales tax revenue alone to the state each year, a significant portion of which can be attributed to events at the arena.

There was no immediate word Wednesday whether the city will ask the state to help renovate the poorly-aging RiverCentre parking ramp across Kellogg Boulevard or build a much-discussed convention center hotel, a missing link in the city’s efforts to draw larger national conventions.

The mayor has previously spoken of adding more public-facing amenities to the arena, such as an outdoor cafe.

Timberwolves in the wings

Lawmakers will have much to mull over. As National Hockey League arenas go, the X is about three or four years older than the industry average, but hardly a dog-eared veteran. The New York Rangers, for instance, play at Madison Square Garden, which was built in 1968.

When it comes to sports stadiums, St. Paul may have some competition. Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are in the process of assuming ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Lynx, and it’s widely expected they’ll aim to take the teams out of Target Center in Minneapolis and build them a new home. The Athletic has reported that their lease at Target Center — the second-oldest stadium in the National Basketball Association — runs through 2035, but the team could break that lease for a hefty sum and land in a new Twin Cities location by 2031. It’s unclear if the new owners would ask for public funding.

Since the Xcel Energy Center was built in 2000, stadiums in Minneapolis have received approximately 94% of state funding for construction or renovation, according to Carter’s office, which pointed to U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Center and Huntington Bank Stadium.

St. Paul, by comparison, has received 6% of the state dollars spent on stadiums in the past 25 years, with those funds going toward CHS Field, the home of the St. Paul Saints. Construction of Allianz Field, the home of Minnesota United, was privately funded.

New at the X as of last year, a Minnesota team — the Frost — skate in the Professional Women’s Hockey League. The World Junior Hockey Championships are scheduled to draw some 250,000 international athletes, spectators, vendors and media to St. Paul and Minneapolis from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2026. The overall complex also hosts high school tournaments, charity events like blood drives and the annual Hmong New Year’s celebration, as well as national conventions and trade shows.