ST. PAUL - Standing on the rooftop of Treasure Island Center - the former Macy's Department Store in downtown St. Paul - Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold proclaimed the team's future 1,200-seat practice rink a draw for professional free agents, youth teams, college hockey players and the general public alike.

"We hope to be playing hockey into June," said Leipold, addressing a sizable audience gathered Tuesday for the "rink groundbreaking" six floors above Cedar and Wabasha streets.

When the Tria Rink opens in November, the Wild - who piece together practice time in metro rinks as far flung as Edina - will finally be able to consolidate ice time in one location. They'll practice a couple of hours each morning, allowing schools, amateur leagues and hockey clinics to rent slots through the day.

The Tria Rink, named after an orthopedic division of HealthPartners that also employs the team physician, will be open year-round, up to 15 hours a day, as a result of a joint venture between the St. Paul Port Authority and the Minneapolis-based Hempel Cos.

Randy McKay, a principal with the Hempel Cos., said Hamline University men's and women's hockey teams hope to use the rink for home games and practices, though an agreement isn't finalized.

He said other uses for the massive, block-long department store building will begin opening shop by September. Six leases have been signed, with additional tenants in the wings. Among them, Stacked Deck Brewing - formerly Looney Bin Brewing - will occupy four large glass bay garage doors along Cedar Street.

"They're going to be making Cedar Street interesting again," McKay said.

The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency will situate more than 200 employees in 61,000 square feet of office space directly beneath the rooftop ice rink. Elsewhere in the building, a Tria Orthopaedic medical clinic and the St. Paul Police Department will have a presence, as well.

Capital Real Estate bought space on the ground floor and skyway for a two-level Walgreens store off Wabasha Street. Next to it on ground level, a Tim Horton's doughnuts and coffee shop will soon lure passersby.

Major changes to the building's concrete exterior are readily visible along Wabasha Street. Jamie Spencer, a vice president with the Wild who helped shepherd the practice facility into reality, said large panels of illuminated glass will soon rise above the roof line, "almost like a lantern for the city at night."

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said Rice Park and Mears Park have long anchored downtown, but the spaces between them suffered from disinvestment. Coleman pointed to Metro Transit's Green Line light rail, the newly-opened Palace Theatre and now Treasure Island Center as fresh opportunities to "connect the dots."

"This was not an easy project to do," said Coleman, who recalled failed efforts to attract developers after Macy's vacated the space in 2013.

When the state of Minnesota suggested the vacant department store could house a sizable outpatient treatment facility for sex offenders, Coleman recalled making a quick phone call to the St. Paul Port Authority with other ideas in mind.

Rather than situate sex offender treatment next to the Minnesota Children's Museum, maybe the Port Authority could step in and buy the building from Macy's instead?

"Louis is rarely speechless," said Coleman on Tuesday, recalling the discussion with former Port Authority CEO Louis Jambois.

On Tuesday, hockey fans, business leaders and members of the development community got their first glimpse of the result, still under construction.

Coleman, Leipold and McKay were joined by Port Authority president Lee Krueger and Jessie Stomski Seim, general counsel for the Prairie Island Indian Community, which recently bought the naming rights for Treasure Island Center for an undisclosed sum.

Krueger recalled broaching the possibility of a professional hockey practice facility with developers, who told him the chance of success was 20 percent.

Half tongue in cheek, he responded: "So you're telling me there's a chance?" He then thanked Jambois "for not firing me when I brought this project to him."

The Hempel Cos. also needed some convincing. "Coming up with the idea of a rink on top of a roof - it was almost outlandishly crazy," McKay said. "Once I heard of it, I said 'good luck.'"

The Pioneer Press is a Forum News Service media partner.