Neal: Anderson Arena will be a game-changer for St. Thomas

[BleedGopher]

Per Neal:

The Lee and Penny Anderson Arena is a game-changer for a booming program. Facilities matter, and the upgrade will make the Tommies a bigger player in recruiting. Women’s hockey coach Bethany Brausen cautioned that it doesn’t guarantee winning, but having new facilities shows what St. Thomas wants to become.

“And certainly, this is part of the recruiting puzzle,” Brausen said. “That when you walk through this space, there’s no stone that is unturned.”

Neal: Anderson Arena will be a game-changer for St. Thomas

The Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, St. Thomas' new basketball arena and hockey rink, highlights the Tommies' status in Division I, columnist La Velle E. Neal writes.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[SelectionSunday]

 

[Bad Gopher]

When my buddies (St. Thomas grads) and I were on our St. Paul Grand Round bike ride a week ago Sunday, they routed us through campus to take a look at the outside of the new place. I was very impressed and pleased with how great it looks and how well it fits into its surroundings. I'm not usually a fan of contemporary architecture, but I consider it an accomplishment of right-sizing, contextual fit, and building to a human scale. Well done!

 

[GopherLady]

ICYMI - here's a look, it's fire!

 

[GopherGrit]

When my buddies (St. Thomas grads) and I were on our St. Paul Grand Round bike ride a week ago Sunday, they routed us through campus to take a look at the outside of the new place. I was very impressed and pleased with how great it looks and how well it fits into its surroundings. I'm not usually a fan of contemporary architecture, but I consider it an accomplishment of right-sizing, contextual fit, and building to a human scale. Well done!

Only "problem" (not really, just saying) is that building it like that sucks up more of the money for the exterior and design.

You can see on the video above, that it is a very fine facility and a massive upgrade over what they had.

But on an absolute scale, it is very Summit League, very much what North Dakota State has (and has had for a while now). Probably two full steps down in "niceness" from Gopher facilities. Which make sense ... Summit is low-major. Still DI, and it's still a very fine facility!