Entertainment, sports remain draws for downtown St. Paul

After some 20 years in the downtown skyway system, the doctors at Metro Optics recently relocated their eyeglass store to Roseville. The St. Paul Winter Carnival’s signature daytime parade — the King Boreas Grande Day Parade — is leaving West Seventh Street and relocating to Grand Avenue on Jan. 25.

On a brighter note, the M — the Minnesota Museum of American Art — recently tripled its gallery space in the Pioneer-Endicott building with a new $14 million wing. Downtown event hosts A’Bulae plan to debut a modern speakeasy-style luxury wedding space — Le VENERÉ — in the former 413 on Wacouta building next May.

“We have actually taken over the space where the previous 413 Wacouta event space was and are demo-ing and renovating it into our new venue,” said Kayla Unmacht, director of sales and marketing for A’Bulae.

Mickey’s Diner and the Park Square Theatre have reopened. Alliance Bank, Redpath, the St. Paul Foundation, the Greater MSP coalition and the restaurant Ruam Mit Thai and Lao Cuisine have all recently recommitted to staying downtown, albeit while moving their headquarters to new locations.

Lucille’s NA Bottle Shop has opened on 7th Place, and the Union Depot transit hub on 4th Street is now fully leased, with the new restaurant and bar 1881 by Lake Elmo Inn drawing customers alongside the new Storyline Books and Choo Choo Bob’s toy store. The new Amtrak Borealis line — which runs from the Union Depot to Chicago — has now served 100,000 riders in 22 weeks, months ahead of schedule.

The Winter Carnival puzzle competition, which draws competitors from around the world, is moving from the Landmark Center to the Union Depot to accommodate bigger crowds.

Galtier Towers, Landmark Towers and a former Ecolab tower on Wabasha Street — now dubbed “Stella” — are all in the process of being converted to multi-family housing.

Downtown continues to draw crowds to CHS Field, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and the Xcel Energy Center, which St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and other key stakeholders hope to see fully renovated if state bond funding comes through in the years ahead. Craig Leipold, owner of the Minnesota Wild, said recently he’s hoping to expand the project to include a new Roy Wilkins Auditorium, an expanded convention center, a new RiverCentre parking ramp and a convention center hotel spanning 650 rooms.

The Minnesota Science Museum, which operates its own parking ramp next to the RiverCentre ramp, has also discussed the possibility of a building renovation and expansion with public officials.

Ramsey County hasn’t given up on the long-awaited RiversEdge development along Kellogg Boulevard, which would fill in empty land that once hosted West Publishing, and the county is seeking state matching funds to start the project off with a new park overlooking the Mississippi River.

When the World Junior Hockey Championships arrive in the Twin Cities on Dec. 26, 2025, the 29 games will unfold at the Xcel Energy Center and the smaller 3M Arena at Mariucci on the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus. The international hockey competition, which tends to alternate between Europe and Canada, is expected to draw some 250,000 fans to the two cities.