Iconic Minnesota Stone Quarried for Lee & Penny Anderson Arena
Tuesday February 4, 2025
Five floors from the ground – and in the middle of winter – a small army of stonemasons are hard at work on the exterior of the under-construction Lee & Penny Anderson Arena. Affectionately known as “brickies,” these skilled workers are giving the rising University of St. Thomas landmark its signature look.
On this particular January day, it was just 11 degrees outside. Not a single coat was in sight. Safe from the elements inside an elaborate – and heated – scaffolding unit, most of the crew enjoyed their cozy perch high above south campus wearing lightweight construction vests and T-shirts.
“It’s supposed to be minus 20 next week, we’ll still be up here,” one mason said. Seconds later, while balancing off narrow planks more than 50 feet in the air, he swung around, perfectly at ease, and placed a large chunk of Kasota limestone into mortar, securing it, permanently, to the arena’s western facade.
“It’s not a job for the faint of heart, but you get used to the heights … eventually,” the mason said with a laugh.
Crews are working diligently to mount 48,500 square feet of Kasota limestone to the arena, enough material to cover a football field. It will take the brickies, roughly 30 in all, an estimated seven months to finish the job.