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.
Rock-solid tradition
Their work continues a 100-year-old architectural tradition at the University of St. Thomas. Kasota limestone, also known as Minnesota stone, is featured on nearly every building across the institution’s St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses.
The prized stone hails from southern Minnesota, just outside Mankato, where, several thousand years ago, glaciers exposed the sturdy, cream-colored rock. It’s here where the Vetter Stone Company has dutifully quarried Kasota stone, or as they call it, Vetter Stone, for four generations.
“There’s nothing else like this anywhere else in the world,” said Ron “RJ” Vetter ’92 MBA, CEO and co-owner of Vetter Stone. “Probably the number one thing that we hear is that it’s just so inviting, so warm, so calming. We find a lot of people are actually feeling the stone, touching the stone, which is really unusual, but it’s just one more sense that people use to engage to it.”
The Vetter family, made up mostly of Tommie grads, has supplied St. Thomas with Kasota stone since work began on the Anderson Student Center in 2010. They’ve also quarried stone for the university’s newest academic building, the Schoenecker Center for STEAM Learning (2024). Their latest job, the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, is planned to open fall 2025.
Tommie-run quarry
Each piece of Vetter Stone begins its journey in the form of a 20-ton block, cut from the ground after a 450-million-year slumber. The mammoth blocks are then carefully transported to the family’s on-site plant, which can cut and buff the limestone down to just about any shape imaginable.



Ron’s brother, Donn Vetter ’81, heads quarry operations for Vetter Stone Company. He’s on-site as architects select their preferred color variation, which ranges from warm yellow and cream to hues that contain more champagne and pink. He’s helped source stone for Target Field in Minneapolis and even the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
No project makes him prouder than when he lands a contract with his alma mater.
“Every time I hear St. Thomas come up in public, I just beam. I’ll try to get in on that conversation if someone’s having one,” said Donn Vetter, who was a business administration major and regularly returns to campus for alumni events. While he’s back in St. Paul, it’s hard not for this Tommie to notice his family’s stone on a growing collection of campus landmarks.

“It’s so humbling to get the chance to continue the architectural tradition of campus,” Vetter said. “We are helping create the look and feel of this place for future generations.”
Developing a signature look
Kasota stone has been the exterior finish of choice for campus buildings since the original St. Paul quadrangle was established in the 1930s and 40s. Aquinas Hall was the first to use the stone when construction began in the summer of 1931.


It was during the same period that architects began designing St. Thomas buildings in the fashionable Collegiate Gothic style. Stone was the preferred material for the style as seen at the nation’s top colleges, including West Point and Notre Dame. Those architectural choices – both in style and stone – have defined campus ever since, according to Dr. Victoria Young, an expert in architectural history and a professor of art history at the College of Arts and Sciences.
“Together with the Collegiate Gothic style, the Kasota limestone buildings of the University of St. Thomas powerfully share our identity, and perhaps this is most visually apparent on our downtown Minneapolis campus where they warm the city’s skyline,” Young said.

Commitment to sustainability
When it came time to design the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, the future home of the Tommie ice hockey and basketball programs, there was little debate, Kasota limestone was at the top of the wish list. Leadership at St. Thomas wanted to continue the architectural tradition, but they had numerous, more practical reasons to support their decision:
- Kasota stone adds longevity. It’s incredibly strong. And it’s known for its outstanding freeze-thaw durability, making it a great choice for cold-climate structures.
- Limestone is cost-effective because it is more abundant than other natural stones. Sourcing it locally also cuts down on transportation costs.
- Kasota stone is considered one of the greenest building materials available. It’s all-natural, nontoxic and chemical-free, and there’s virtually no construction waste.
“I’ve always loved the beauty that this incredible stone brings to our campus, but it also makes a statement about our values as a university,” said Jim Brummer, vice president for facilities management. “It reminds our community that we remain committed to sustainable building practices and creating healthy, vibrant spaces that connect deeply with our natural world.”

Once complete, Lee & Penny Anderson Arena will be one of the greenest athletic facilities in the nation. St. Thomas is pursuing LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Kasota stone welcome
When the Kasota stone arrives at the construction site, the 3-inch thick slabs are sorted and sized in a climate-controlled space. Each day, masonry crews hoist new batches to their work areas. The stone is then attached to the building’s structure by hanging it on metal hooks. Mortar is used like glue to seal it in place.


More than one million pounds of Kasota stone will eventually grace the arena – one of the largest orders of limestone in the university’s history. Stonemasons expect to complete their work sometime in April or May 2025, just a few months shy of the building’s fall opening.
For the Vetter family, they’re excited to see the finished product and welcome fellow Tommies inside Lee & Penny Anderson Arena. With the help of their beloved Vetter Stone, it should be a warm welcome, indeed.
“It’s been in our blood for a long time – we have a lot of love for St. Thomas,” Ron Vetter said. “We’re so proud of our relationship there and we want this arena, like all of our projects, to be a place that’s inviting to people when they walk through those doors.”