University of St. Thomas stadium opponents ask courts to block construction — again – St. Paul Pioneer Press

Opponents of a Division 1 basketball and hockey stadium already well under construction at the University of St. Thomas have again asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals for an injunction halting construction permits issued by the city of St. Paul.

A 68-page legal memorandum filed by neighborhood homeowners and attorney Daniel Kennedy calls the city’s recently revised environmental assessment worksheet inadequate. The critics, under the name Advocates for Responsible Development, demanded that work on the stadium be halted pending a detailed review known as an Environmental Impact Statement, which the city deemed unnecessary.

Advocates for responsible development say the 5,000-seat Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, which is being built near Grand and Cretin avenues, could have far-reaching negative effects on the Mississippi River corridor and homes along it, from delayed ambulance traffic to potential mass poisonings from ice rink fumes to lethal effects on bee colonies.

“The ESA and (its) update are flawed in so many ways,” the legal request for a restraining order reads. “Even after receiving direct
guidance from the court … the city failed to address the impacts of the phase-in, including (greenhouse gases), and failed to provide specific, targeted and defined mitigation measures.”

“With the university building being built as quickly as possible…environmental damage will continue, and some of it (eg destruction of bumble bee colonies, river slope disruption and erosion, construction without including precautions for toxic refrigerants) cannot reasonably be be canceled even if the arena is later destroyed.

Advocates for responsible development have filed multiple lawsuits in an unsuccessful attempt to block construction over the past year.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled last July that the city’s previous European arrest warrant lacked specific measures aimed at addressing congestion, parking and greenhouse gas emissions beyond passive approaches, such as monitoring traffic levels for two years. The court also noted that the lengthy worksheet failed to account for the cumulative impact of construction projects on campus, including the new Schoenecker Multidisciplinary Center and the Center for Microgrid Research.

In response, the city released a newly updated EIA in October prepared by St. Paul-based planning and engineering firm Kimley-Horn.

Also in July, Advocates for Responsible Development sought an injunction to stop construction from proceeding, which the courts denied.

Unless construction is halted, the stadium could open this fall.