Minnesota Wild abandons effort to put up behemoth banner

There will be no six-story-tall banner draped down the side of Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild has decided not to appeal a city board's denial of its request to allow the banner, the team confirmed Wednesday. The team had asked for variances to the city's ordinance that limits the number of signs posted on the outside of the arena and the height and elevation of any banners.

The banner would have featured Wild players photo­graphed on an iPhone.

In an e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon to Scenic St. Paul, a citizen group that opposed the Wild's request, St. Paul zoning inspector Matthew Graybar said the "Wild just called and stated they will not appeal the denial of their variance request."

St. Paul's Board of Zoning Appeals last month considered three variance requests by the NHL team that would have allowed the giant banner to hang down the side of the arena for three years. The Wild needed variances to city limits on the number of signs that can be on the outside of the arena (two), how high banners can be placed (not more than 37.5 feet above ground) and how tall the banners can be (no more than 6 feet).

The Wild's banner would have been the third sign posted on the arena's exterior, would have hung 96 feet above the street and would have measured 58 feet tall.

The Board of Zoning Appeals voted 4-2 to deny each request.

James Walsh