Page 19 - 111117

Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, Nov. 114, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 125 ~ 19 of 66
ages the arena and Premier Center.
Torkildson’s company, SMG, has helped the city enter a new entertainment era marked by the opening
of the Premier Center.
The arena still plays a role in drawing artists and visitors to Sioux Falls. It’s used for concert pre-parties,
banquets and, this weekend, the annual Autumn Fest, a traveling arts and craft show that’s been on Sioux Falls’ calendar for decades.
But the arena now has more “dark days” when it’s not in use than event days.
Meanwhile, the aging “war horse,” as Mayor Mike Huether refers to it, faces several expensive repairs in the coming years. Some of cials wonder if it makes sense to dump more money into maintenance and upgrades if its days are numbered anyway.
The 68-foot-tall structure has changed little since its construction. Incremental improvements have been made over the years — upgrading locker rooms, installing retractable oor seating and hanging more modern scoreboards — but the guts of the building like the air ducts, rafters and wooden seats still remain.
“If we’re going to encounter more and more expenses just to keep it up, it’s just a good time in the business cycle to evaluate it,” city nance director Tracy Turbak told the Argus Leader .
The city’s convention center is effective for drawing trade groups and industry conventions, but the Sioux Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau said it misses out on larger events that need more space and on-site hotel rooms than Sioux Falls can offer.
“In the convention world, it’s not often you need an arena. You need meeting rooms and at oor space,” CVB Executive Director Teri Schmidt said. “The interest is there to come to Sioux Falls. We just don’t have enough space “
The Sheraton hotel has about 250 rooms, but Schmidt says there’s demand for another 350.
With all that in mind, City Hall hired a Minneapolis consultant this fall to study the arena’s use and its place in the entertainment and convention markets. The consultant’s report, due later this year, is also expected to map out possible long-term scenarios for the property whether the arena building stays or not.
The City Council approved $63,000 for the consultant last month. Turbak said it was without any pre- conceived notions of what the future might hold. The recommendations might range from demolition to a new life as a multi-level reception hall. The directive to the consultant, Conventions, Sports & Leisure International, was deliberately open-ended to avoid skewing the outcome.
But that’s not to say people like Schmidt and Huether don’t have their own wish lists.
Huether recently stood on the arena’s main oor as crafters unloaded vans and trailers full of exhibits and goods. The mayor reminisced about the arena’s role in the debate around locating the Premier Center on the same campus.
One of the selling points for building the $117 million event center there was to bolster the amount of oor space used to sell Sioux Falls to conventions and trade shows. That need hasn’t changed. Huether said he’d prefer more hotel development north of Russell Street so the city can get creative with the arena and add more oor space to the facility.
That could include retro tting the building to make it more like the rest of the convention center.
“If we could get our hands on those pieces of property (on Russell Street), I think that would really de- termine what ultimately happens with the Sioux Falls Arena,” Huether said. “Those are perfect locations for two to three more hotels.”
Sioux Falls isn’t the rst city to deal with an aging arena. Event centers, auditoriums and arenas around the country have been restored and re-purposed in recent decades, many of which will be studied as the consultant puts together its recommendation, said Kristoffar Nelson, a senior project manager for Conventions, Sports & Leisure.
“We will be exploring a number of markets and facilities that have faced similar situations regarding the consideration of the re-use of an aging arena,” he said.
In one example, the city of Long Beach, California, used a ying steel truss system to convert its existing arena oor into an intimate space for receptions and concerts.
Whatever decision is made by the city will carry high stakes for the Sioux Falls’ visitor and convention