The University of St. Thomas will use a record $75 million donation to help cover the costs of a new arena to host basketball and hockey games, as well as other events on campus.
The donation from Lee and Penny Anderson is the largest in the school’s history, and administrators suspect it is one of the largest donations ever given to a Minnesota university, based on data kept by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The donation comes at a time when the Catholic university in St. Paul is trying to build its reputation outside the Twin Cities and is relying, in part, on athletics to do that.
“Division I athletics is a key component in that journey,” university President Rob Vischer said. “We are super strong in our region. We need to be known outside of our region, and athletics is one lever that we need to employ to grow that reputation.”
The university received permission from the NCAA in 2020 to jump from Division III athletics to Division I athletics in most sports, a transition that took effect last schoolyear.
University athletics director Phil Esten said he hopes being able to provide facilities that “at least are comparable, if not exceed those of our competitors” will provide a boost for recruitment.
“Simply being designated as a Division I university isn’t enough,” Esten said. “We do need to continue to demonstrate commitment to excellence and be competitive at that level.”
The new arena — which will be named after the Andersons — will be constructed on the south side of the university’s campus, near a parking facility that is also named for the couple. To make room for it, the university anticipates that it will need to demolish the McCarthy Gymnasium, the Service Center, and the Cretin Hall dormitory.
The university anticipates the entire project — including demolition, as well as design and construction of the new building — will cost about $175 million. Administrators said they hope to raise at least $131 million from donations, more than half of which has already been donated by the Andersons.
“We do not anticipate that this will require an increase in tuition,” Vischer said.
Following the announcement, the design process will accelerate. The university anticipates construction will begin in 2024 and the new arena will open in the fall of 2025.
Esten said they anticipate the new arena will house basketball and provide a second sheet of ice for the hockey program. He said the space could also be used for graduation, job fairs and other university events.
The hockey teams currently play off campus at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, which has seating for only about 1,000 spectators. The basketball teams play on campus at Schoenecker Arena with capacity for about 2,000. The new arena would have capacity of 4,000 to 6,000, the university said.
The building will be constructed with Kasota limestone to remain in character with other buildings on the campus, one of the stipulations the Andersons put on the donation.
“We don’t make a lot of 75 million gifts; this is the only one,” Lee Anderson said in an interview. “We are proud of our association with the school. We felt we could do it and other people would benefit from our success.”
Anderson owned Roseville-based APi Group, Inc., a holding corporation of about 30 construction, manufacturing and fire-protection companies. He sold the privately-held business three years ago when he retired.
Anderson never attended St. Thomas, but the Twin Cities native who now resides in Naples, Fla., with his wife, said he long admired the institution’s mission, spirituality, faculty and administration, and students. He served on the university’s Board of Trustees for 12 years. His daughter, Katharine Anderson Groethe, now serves on the board and her children attend the school.
“The move to Division I was a quantum leap for them and the facilities are not up to the standards of a Division I school,” Lee Anderson said in an interview. “The arena project came along and that was something we could support. St. Thomas is a school on the rise. It’s all very exciting for us, the school and everybody.”
This story is developing and may be updated.
Staff writer Tim Harlow contributed to this report.
This content was originally published here.
