fightingsioux4life Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 .......22 years ago, Ralph Engelstad held a press conference in the "loft" of the then-Ralph Engelstad Arena and announced he was donating $100 million to the University of North Dakota for the construction of a new hockey arena. I cannot believe it has been 22 years. #timeflies https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/dec/18/engelstad-donates-100-million-to-his-alma-matter/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejm Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Yeah. The rink was supposed to be about half the $100MM, with the remainder going to scholarships, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarnWinterSportsEngelstad Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 21 hours ago, mikejm said: Yeah. The rink was supposed to be about half the $100MM, with the remainder going to scholarships, etc. Here's a very short version? Thank our past president Kupchella, there's two ways of looking at how that transpired? 1st version, Kup unintentionally upset Ralph. 2nd version, was Kup smarter than most give him credit for, let's put the whole $100M into the rink? Kup helped make it the Taj Mahal rink on the prairie, by temporarily pulling his support of the SIOUX nickname! Politics behind the scenes? Just imagine without his change of heart input - intentional or not, the original plans funds not intended for the building of the rink (that portion of $100M) would of been all used up by now, and we would today have some kind of a larger Winter Sports Version III. In any event, Kup motivated Ralph on all in. Little history here, first two Winter Sports rinks! Winter Sports Building (Barn), SE part of campus by RR tracks - 1936 till 1971-72 season southeast edge of the campus beside the railroad tracks. The UND Winter Sports Building, a quonset covered with corrugated steel, was constructed in 1936 using funds ($46K) and labor from the Works Progress Administration. "The Barn" was unheated with natural ice and a tin roof. It remained the home of UND Hockey until the Winter Sports Center (later known as the Ralph Engelstad Arena) was built in 1972. University and community leaders raised nearly $2 million in funding the Winter Sports Center, which included: $800,000 in student bonds $500,000 from the Edmond A. Hughes Estate $240,000 from Alumni across the nation and special funds $460,000 from a local fund drive led by UND alumnus, John O'Keefe The 87,000-square-foot "Winter Sport Center," as it was first dubbed, opened its doors Nov. 10, 1972. The modern, heated facility offered fans protection from the outdoor elements and contemporary comforts. Winter Sports Center (later named Ralph Engelstad Arena) lasted till 2000-2001 season. 1983, addition of $750K foyer. Grew to be 100,816 square feet with 5,700 seats later expanded to 6,067. In 1988, the Winter Sports Center was renamed after Ralph Engelstad '54, pledging more than $5 million to hockey program. Last game played in the old Ralph was on Sept. 28, 2001 - U Manitoba. 593 games played 400-171-22 (.69%) Winter Sports III (REA, Inc.) that would of been built with much less $, picture of what could of been is not available? ? Pic Initially, $40 million to $50 million of the donation was earmarked to build the new Ralph Engelstad Arena and remaining funds would be used by the university in other needs. Some time after the construction of the arena began, this budget was destroyed. The entire $100M donation went to the arena - and it shows. With Kup's help a $104M gifted rink was delivered onto the Bronson Property / 30 year management. The opening of the new Ralph Engelstad Arena was on Oct. 5, 2001. October 2030 is the end of the 30 year management agreement. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaMikeFoxtrot Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Given the period in which he was actively in business in Vegas, is it safe to assume Ralph was mobbed up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burd Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 10 hours ago, BarnWinterSportsEngelstad said: Here's a very short version? Thank our past president Kupchella, there's two ways of looking at how that transpired? 1st version, Kup unintentionally upset Ralph. 2nd version, was Kup smarter than most give him credit for, let's put the whole $100M into the rink? Kup helped make it the Taj Mahal rink on the prairie, by temporarily pulling his support of the SIOUX nickname! Politics behind the scenes? Just imagine without his change of heart input - intentional or not, the original plans funds not intended for the building of the rink (that portion of $100M) would of been all used up by now, and we would today have some kind of a larger Winter Sports Version III. In any event, Kup motivated Ralph on all in. Little history here, first two Winter Sports rinks! Winter Sports Building (Barn) - 1936 till 1971-72 season The UND Winter Sports Building was constructed in 1936 using funds and labor from the Works Progress Administration. "The Barn" was unheated with natural ice and a tin roof. It remained the home of UND Hockey until the Winter Sports Center (later known as the Ralph Engelstad Arena) was built in 1972. University and community leaders raised nearly $2 million in funding the Winter Sports Center, which included: $800,000 in student bonds $500,000 from the Edmond A. Hughes Estate $240,000 from Alumni across the nation and special funds $460,000 from a local fund drive led by UND alumnus, John O'Keefe The 87,000-square-foot "Winter Sport Center," as it was first dubbed, opened its doors Nov. 10, 1972. The modern, heated facility offered fans protection from the outdoor elements and contemporary comforts. Winter Sports Center (later named Ralph Engelstad Arena) lasted till 2000-2001 season. 1983, addition of $750K foyer. Grew to be 100,816 square feet with 5,700 seats later expanded to 6,067. In 1988, the Winter Sports Center was renamed after Ralph Engelstad '54, pledging more than $5 million to hockey program. Last game played in the old Ralph was on Sept. 28, 2001 - U Manitoba. 593 games played 400-171-22 (.69%) Winter Sports III (REA, Inc.) that would of been built with much less $, picture of what could of been is not available? ? Pic Initially, $40 million to $50 million of the donation was earmarked to build the new Ralph Engelstad Arena and remaining funds would be used by the university in other needs. Some time after the construction of the arena began, this budget was destroyed. The entire $100M donation went to the arena - and it shows. With Kup's help a $104M gifted rink was delivered onto the Bronson Property / 30 year management. The opening of the new Ralph Engelstad Arena was on Oct. 5, 2001. October 2030 is the end of the 30 year management agreement. Those of you who attended games at the Winter Sports Building will recall how fitting it was to have the word "winter" in the name. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxFan100 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 During a construction weekend I drove through the parking lot only to be chased out by security. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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