The University of St. Thomas says it will appeal last week’s ruling that an environmental review of their planned hockey and basketball arena didn’t go far enough.
St. Thomas will appeal ruling on planned arena in St. Paul, resumes construction
In a statement, the university say appeals court’s concerns “can be remedied.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune
July 16, 2024 at 7:03PM
Construction of the 5,500-seat Lee and Penny Anderson Arena will continue, university leaders wrote in an email. It is being built on the university’s south campus, west of Cretin Avenue S. and north of Goodrich Avenue.
“After thoroughly reviewing the court’s opinion, the university is confident that each of the three areas the court has directed the City of Saint Paul to address in the original Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) can be remedied,” the university wrote in a statement. “However, St. Thomas disagrees with the court’s opinion that the city’s initial EAW was insufficient and plans to appeal the decision.”
University officials said they were encouraged that the appellate court rejected some of the claims made by arena opponents in their lawsuit against the project. They also noted that both the St. Paul City Council and the zoning committee of the city’s Planning Commission have previously rejected claims by a citizens group, Advocates for Responsible Development, that opposes the project. A spokesman for the group did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
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