A three to four thousand-seat arena could possibly be in the future for Winona after city leaders and private donators proposed the project that would host Winona State University basketball games, as well as the Great River Shakespeare and the Minnesota Beethoven festivals.
The plans were announced at a press conference at the Winona City Hall on Friday, Dec. 14, 2007.
Although the city has been looking at the project for a while, it has been seriously considered for the past two years or so, according to Winona State Athletic Director Larry Holstad.
The arena would take up two city blocks.
The possible site location discussed is the area bordered by Main and Huff streets and between Sarnia Street and the Mississippi River.
This project would cost approximately $30 million.
According to Winona Daily News Reporter Mark Sommerhauser, the city would seek most of the funding through a bonding request to the Minnesota Legislature in 2010.
Taxpayers will not be asked to contribute until the help of private donors and the bonding bill are guaranteed to fund the project.
Holstad was very surprised to hear the announcement of the arena plans because, in previous discussions, the Great River Shakespeare Festival and Minnesota Beethoven Festival were not added into the equation.
Although the arena would be used for Winona State sports games, the university is not involved in the cost of its construction.
“It would be an expense to us at the point when we run the facility,” Ellinghuysen explained, “but until then, we are not financially responsible for this project.”
Being in charge of the arena is something of a deal maker or breaker for Holstad.
“Being in control of the facility is the only way it would be able to work,” he said, “If we can’t have it for practice and games then it isn’t worth it,” Holstad said,
Similar arenas have been built in Bemidji and Marshall Minn. where the city built the arenas, but the universities themselves run the facility.
Holstad is unconvinced that this project is feasible for the city of Winona.
He referred to it as a domino effect; he believes there is not enough space in Winona to build this type of facility.
Houses would need to be displaced, or the arena would need to be built in on-campus parking lots, which would add to an existing problem: The lack of parking at Winona State.
Holstad is not the only member of the Winona State community to have their doubts about the project. Scott Ellinghuysen, vice president of finance and administrative services, said it’s not a priority.
Both Holstad and Ellinghuysen agree that the renovations on the fitness center and Memorial Hall are more important.
“The university is about the students,” Holstad said, “Winona State needs to add more bathrooms and a better concession area to accommodate all the people who come to the games.”
In the event that a new arena is built, added bathrooms and a concession stand are high on the list of essentials that Holstad said he would need, along with faculty offices and courts for games and practices for the basketball and volleyball teams.
Holstad believes the arena would not be built for at least four years, if it happens at all.
The number of people attending basketball games increase by each winning game, a big reason why many people want a new arena, but Holstad believes it is more important to fill up the stands than to have too many open seats.
“It’s better to have a 3,000 seat arena full than to have a 5,000 seat arena with 3,000 people in it,” Holstad said.

Contact Claudia at
CDCappie9866@winona.edu