It’s a new look and a brighter future for the Wakota Civic Arena in South St. Paul. The dual-rink Ice Arena was built in the late 1950s to serve both Washington and Dakota County schools including Newport, West St. Paul, Cottage Grove and Woodbury. In the years since, it has served as a Cow Palace, where rodeos, home shows, circuses and ice shows have taken place, in addition to the years of hockey games, practices and tournaments. On Thursday of last week, a multi-million dollar renovation was formally unveiled bringing city and county dignitaries to the ice as community members, council, former hockey players and staff reveled in the result. The City attempted to find partners for the expensive update, and resorted to a referendum seeking additional parks and recreation dollars for the project. KDWA spoke with current mayor Beth Baumann, who expressed gratitude for the effort, despite the cost and inconvenience of the construction process.
We asked City Councilman Dan Neiderkorn to describe the extensive changes.
Also in the bleachers was 2nd District Commissioner Kathleen Gaylord, who had previously served as Mayor of South St. Paul. Commissioner Gaylord looks at the Arena as a community asset.
The Arena serves the South St. Paul Youth Hockey Association, Barb Yackel’s Figure Skating instruction, and the district’s elementary through high school teams. It is also rented for tournaments, practices and independent camps and events.
