From the Fargo Forum today
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Forget what you’ve heard.
The Ralph Engelstad Arena will not be torn down if the Fighting Sioux nickname is retired.
The arena will not kick the University of North Dakota out if its sports teams go by another name.
And there is no contract between UND and the management of the $104 million facility that includes conditions related to the Fighting Sioux nickname.
The truth: The words “logo” and “nickname” don’t appear in any contractual agreement between UND and the management of the Ralph Engelstad Arena, where the university plays its men’s hockey games.
UND president Says who will pay for the changes to the arena has not been discussed
UND president Says who will pay for the changes to the arena has not been discussed
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“It’s become urban legend or urban myth at this point,” said Jody Hodgson, general manager of the arena.
Hodgson has heard all the rumors. One of his favorites is getting asked how much money is set aside to tear down the arena if UND adopts a new nickname.
“I always laugh and have fun with it,” Hodgson said.
The documents outlining the arrangement between UND and the arena are pretty standard, he said.
There’s an eight-page lease agreement for the land, which is owned by UND. The arena rents it for $1.
That document, signed in 2000 by the North Dakota University System chancellor, the UND president and arena officials, specifies that the tenant shall construct a winter sports facility according to plans approved by UND.
It says the facility will be turned over to UND no later than Sept. 30, 2030.
There’s also a usage agreement that’s updated every year between UND and arena management that outlines financial arrangements, including how revenue is divided.
Hodgson says the documents are fairly boring and he doesn’t know where gossip about conditions on the arena began.
Perhaps the rumors are rooted in what Engelstad spokesman and former UND hockey great Reggie Morelli reportedly told a UND student group in 2000.
Morelli said Engelstad agreed to give money for the arena on condition that UND keep the controversial nickname. In news reports from the time, Morelli declined a request to clarify his comments. He did not return a call seeking comment.
Or maybe the legend is rooted in what many now call the “Dear Chuck” letter, in which Engelstad tells Kupchella he will abandon construction on the arena if the nickname is changed.
In the letter, Engelstad states: “Commitments were made to me by others and yourself, regarding the Sioux logo and the Sioux slogan, before I started the arena and after it had been started.”
Earl Strinden, executive director of the UND Alumni Association and Foundation at the time, said there were no strings attached to the arena gift and he doesn’t think Engelstad would have halted construction.
“Ralph was obviously upset when he wrote that letter,” Strinden said. “I never doubted Ralph and his word.”
The ground lease agreement stipulated that once construction began on the arena, it must be pursued until completion.
Tim O’Keefe, who now leads the UND Alumni Association and Foundation, said none of the gifts from Engelstad or his family foundation have involved conditions on the nickname.
“There has never, ever been any allusion to any sort of conditional aspect, whether it be associated with the arena or the most recent $20 million commitment they made last spring,” O’Keefe said.
Who controls the Ralph?
A group of related organizations are set up to own, operate and manage the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Arena Holdings Charitable
- A limited-liability corporation based in Delaware
- It owns the $104 million Ralph Engelstad Arena