The Tria Rink, located on the fifth floor of the old Macy’s building in downtown St. Paul, will officially open Saturday.

The rink, located in the redevelopment now known as Treasure Island Center, will be the new home for Minnesota Wild practices, but will also host Hamline men’s and women’s hockey games and serve as a community rink for youth teams and open skate sessions.

A short grand opening at 9 a.m. Saturday will feature St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, St. Paul Port Authority President Lee Krueger, Hempel Principal Randy McKay, Tria Physician Joel Boyd, who also doubles as the Wild’s team physician, and Matt Majka, president of the Wild. The event will be followed by a three-hour open house.

The unique redevelopment of the 540,000-square-foot building, brought on by the 2013 closing of the Macy’s store, also includes or will include offices, a brewery and a small Tria clinic on the main floor. For the Wild it represents the end of its need to shuttle players and equipment between several practice locations throughout the metro area.

Now the team practices in what had been the top of a parking ramp when Macy’s was still there.

“It’s no secret we were looking for a practice facility,” says Jamie Spencer, executive vice president of business development for the team. “We we’re one of the few teams that has that model.”

When the redevelopment of the Macy’s building was brought up, it was no slam dunk. The team needed to inspect the building in detail to ensure it could even support a hockey rink. Ultimately it worked out.

“It’s a very unique outcome for the Wild and the city of St. Paul as a whole,” he says. “A few years ago, Macy’s pulled out and left the city with this albatross of a building. The city was really struggling with what to do with this enormous footprint.”

The Port Authority purchased it a few years ago and was tasked with reinventing the space. Real estate developer Hempel signed on and has worked to reinvent and lease the space. The Wild also will have a training facility in the lower levels of the building that will have a kitchen and double as a space for coaches to break down film.

It will, Spencer believes, help attract players.

“When we are bringing in a free agent, one of the first things they ask is ‘let’s see the practice facility,’” he says.

The Wild will manage the ice. It will host events — such as the National Women’s Hockey League All-Star Weekend taking place right now — and will be available often to youth and adult hockey leagues, including what will be a new chapter for the DinoMights, an organization for at-risk youth in Minneapolis that will now expand to St. Paul.

“It helps us expose inner-city kids to hockey,” Spencer says, adding the team is excited about all of the partnerships arising out of this project. “Our mission statement is ‘Creating a Better State of Hockey.’”