The University of St. Thomas says it will appeal last’s week ruling that an environmental review of their planned hockey and basketball arena didn’t go far enough.
Construction of the 5,500 Lee and Penny Anderson Arena will continue, university leaders said in an email. It is being built on the university’s south campus, west of Cretin Avenue and north of Goodrich.
“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. 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 that opposes the project, Advocates for Responsible Development. A spokesman for the group did not immediately respond for a request to comment.