The St. Louis Blues find itself in some hot water this week as a proposed practice facility potentially runs afoul of U.S. federal conservation laws. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Stephen Deere reports that the St. Louis County Council may attempt to delay issuing permits to the project.
The practice facility is proposed to be built in Creve Coeur Lake Park, MO, about 20 miles from the St. Louis Blues’ Scottrade Center. But because federal funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund were used to develop part of the park, any future development must receive approval from the National Park Service. The developers are still waiting for approval as state and federal officials review environmental assessments.
The Post-Dispatch’s Tony Messenger reports that developers have begun bulldozing and grading the proposed site, despite not receiving the required approvals. Messenger writes that county officials state that the work is unrelated to the practice arena development, but city permits authorizing the work list the purpose as “Construction of an Ice Center.”