Grand/Casino

The arena opened on September 29, 2000. It was built on the site of the demolished St. Paul Civic Center. The push for a new arena in Saint Paul grew after the National Hockey League's Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas. Saint Paul courted the Hartford Whalers and Winnipeg Jets under Mayor Norm Coleman, but the Civic Center was an obstacle to both deals. In order to get an NHL expansion team, Saint Paul needed to build a new arena. After several failed attempts to get funding, the state funded the project in April 1998. It gave Saint Paul a no-interest loan of $65 million for the $130 million project, though it forgave $17 million of that in exchange for having high school sports…

The concourse areas contain hockey jerseys from every Minnesota high school on the walls, reflecting the "State of Hockey". Surrounding the arena at all four corners are "crow's nests". One features an organ and is played during Wild games. The second features a lighthouse that houses a foghorn that is blasted when the team takes the ice before games, for all Wild and Frost goals, and after a victory. The third is used for the Wild's disc jockey. The fourth provides an additional stage for various uses. Before it opened, the arena installed an integrated scoring, video, information and advertising display system by Daktronics. The system includes a large LED circular, center-hung scoreboard…