The city of St. Paul proposed a $488 million renovation of the Xcel Energy Center at this year’s legislative session, but the bill was not acted upon.
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However, the city, the Minnesota Wild and state lawmakers are still putting together a funding plan to get the renovations done in the near future.
Deputy St. Paul Mayor Jamie Tincher told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS getting the package put together and approved is a “top priority” for the city.
“How do we put our best thinking around the creativity that we can come up with so that we can get this urgent priority taken care of?” asked Deputy St. Paul Mayor Tincher.
Tincher told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the city would put up $200 million, with “other donors” as part of the $488 million funding proposal and they are looking at a sort of combo-platter plan, if you will.
“So, whether it would be tax increment financing, or you know sales tax, or any of the different ways that we could sort of put that together. A big piece of what the city can bring to the table is our bonding capacity,” said Tincher.
City Council President Rebecca Noecker told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the renovations are critically important and she believes she can get the four votes needed to pass a final funding package.
“I think we have to make the case that this is not just about the arena and not just about the Wild. This is about downtown St. Paul and it’s about all of St. Paul and it’s about the region,” said Noecker.
There is no definitive timeline to get the renovation approved and then finished, but Tincher said the city is hopeful it could be accomplished “within the next five years.”