PROJECT OVERVIEW  

As the first Division III institution in the modern NCAA to transition directly to Division I sports, the University of St. Thomas needed a high-performance home for its men’s and women’s basketball and hockey programs on a compressed timeline to meet NCAA program and facility requirements. Drawing on our 15-year partnership with the university, our internal architecture and interior design team collaborated with Crawford Architects as the associate architect to design and build a multi-use facility that would elevate their national visibility while bringing lasting value to the campus and the surrounding community. The Lee & Penny Anderson Arena provides a modern, flexible venue for athletic competitions, academic ceremonies, and community events, with a design that respects the campus’s established Collegiate Gothic style. 

UNIQUE FEATURES  

  • Convertible main floor with retractable seating and an ammonia refrigeration system that can transform the venue from a 4,000-seat hockey rink to a 5,300-seat basketball arena in under a day.. 
  • Specialized retractable seating configurations designed to optimize sightlines for hockey, basketball, and university convocations 
  • Vertically stacked building footprint featuring two above– ground practice courts designed to fit within an existing compact urban campus footprint that maximizes programmatic density and critical campus open space.  
  • Seven distinct Division I athletic programs are consolidated under one roof including: practice courts, an auxiliary ice rink, broadcast facilities and comprehensive athlete support spaces 
  • 70-foot precast double tees and 180-foot steel roof spans engineered to support the column-free vertical layout of the arena bowl 
  • Flexible athlete spaces, including a fueling station that supports an off-hours café function, study spaces, strength training centers, and sports medicine facilities 
  • Dedicated team suites personalized in direct collaboration with university coaching staffs to feature hand-selected graphics, branding, and motivational quotes 
  • Built to LEED Silver certification standards by integrating a high-efficiency campus utility loop, incorporating an advanced stormwater management system, and utilizing water-conserving fixtures to minimize long-term resource consumption. 

OUTCOMES  

  • Delivered the facility in just 17 months—nearly a year faster than comparable projects—by strategically phasing the project across six permit packages to enable uninterrupted winter construction and ensure the arena was ready for the start of the hockey season.  
  • Executed strict safety protocols and minimal disruption to student life, even as the project’s construction was just 36 feet from an active dormitory and required the demolition of two existing structures as well as the complex partial demolition of an occupied academic building. 
  • Integrated the new facility into the university’s existing utility loop without disrupting the South campus operations, pioneering a highly efficient and sustainable resource model for the entire university. 
  • Leveraged an extraordinary level of trust and disciplined execution between the university, design, and construction teams to successfully navigate the intense logistical challenges of the build.    
  • Certified a LEED v4 BD+C Silver facility featuring an interconnected energy model that shares heating and cooling resources with adjacent campus buildings and utilizes waste heat from the ice plant

Client Testimonial

“We have worked with Ryan Companies on many projects over the years, and they always come through. On this arena project, which is so vital to our university’s future, we are proud to partner with Ryan once again.”

University of St. Thomas President Rob Vischer