Officials in St. Paul said a shipment delay is to blame for the continued closure of the RiverCentre Parking Ramp.
The ramp has been closed since May after concrete began falling from the ceiling. Crews shortly after began repair work and also began installing netting on the ceiling to catch any falling debris.
Visit St. Paul, the organization that helps oversee the operation of the ramp, had hoped to have half of the ramp open by Saturday’s Minnesota Wild home opener at the Xcel Energy Center.
But progress stalled this week when the final shipment of the netting arrived too late for crews to install in time for Saturday’s game, according to officials.
Terry Mattson with the RiverCentre Authority, said they hope the ramp will be fully open within two-to-three weeks.
Right now, only the top plaza level of the RiverCentre Ramp is open. That level has nearly 200 spaces. When the ramp is fully operational, it has nearly 1,600 spaces.
Wild fans packed the streets of downtown St. Paul after many said they spent considerable time sitting in traffic trying to find a place to park.
“We got in but right after we got out of the ramp, we saw the line went around the corner,” said John Presuhn, who was visiting from Superior.
Other fans said if the RiverCentre Parking Ramp delays continue, it could have a domino effect on people trying to get to downtown St. Paul for the games.
“We know that we can’t park close to the stadium, so we parked a little farther away and walked through the skyways to get here,” said John Draper, from Elk River. “It’s just going to be very frustrating, trying to find spaces somewhere else.”