In the 1998 Bonding Bill, the Legislature appropriated $65 million from the General Fund for a loan to the city of St. Paul for the RiverCentre Arena. This loan must be used for the construction of a hockey arena for the expansion National Hockey League team, the Minnesota Wild, at RiverCentre.

The loan is to the city of St. Paul, but repayment is tied to the Minnesota Wild hockey team. $48 million of this interest-free loan to the city of St. Paul is to be paid back, in full, by the Minnesota Wild over a 20-year period. $17 million of the loan will be forgiven if the team agrees to host amateur sports events in the new arena, charging the amateur sports teams only for expenses.

The team, which is repaying the $48 million loan to the city, is also repaying a second loan for $65 million which is being taken out by the city itself. These repayments are coming from team revenues generated by the arena, including projected ticket surcharge revenues and parking revenues.

The arena will be a 19,000-seat hockey arena attached to the RiverCentre convention hall and will be available for convention events and entertainment bookings. The RiverCentre project is described by the city of St. Paul as a combination of riverfront and community development, designed to bring conventions, sports, and tourism downtown and to link this development with river development.

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