Jan. 10—MITCHELL — Some members of the Mitchell City Council are calling for action to renovate the Corn Palace and expand it east toward Lawler Street amid discussions for alternative seats at the city landmark.
During the mayor and city council input session on Monday, Jan. 6, Council member Susan Tjarks transitioned to an item not on the meeting’s agenda.
Tjarks proposed that architect Robin Miller of the architecture firm Schemmer, of Sioux Falls, come with a proposed agreement showing design and cost estimates for the Corn Palace improvements.
A study was presented to the city by Miller in January 2022 with three designs ranging from $18 million to $42 million.
The study cost the city $120,000
. No contract has been signed by the city since that presentation. The discussion from Monday’s meeting on new architectural drawing was geared toward focusing on changing the stage area of the Corn Palace.
Council member Jeff Smith indicated the city could replace seats on the west side while looking at options for expanding the Corn Palace to the east.
“You guys have a budget in mind?” Mitchell Mayor Jordan Hanson said.
“We need to take the first step,” Tjarks responded. “This is an important part of what keeps our community going. That’s a major portion of where we get our money, and so we can’t just sit back and let it just die.”
Hanson said he and Corn Palace Director Dave Sietsema will call up the various tournaments to see if they would consider the Corn Palace as a viable venue if the venue underwent renovations.
The South Dakota High School Activities Association’s minimum capacity guidelines require 5,500 seats for a girls basketball state tournament, although the state association has held Class AA tournaments at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls in recent years, which seats 3,200.
“If we did this project, would (the state tournaments) even come back?” Hanson said, referring to a potential Corn Palace expansion. “Now if they said ‘No,’ would that change your mind?”
After a long pause, Tjarks quoted the 1989 film Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.”
“I could show you a lot of businesses that said that and failed,” Hanson said. He then referenced a Parks and Recreation TV episode about an ice rink that bankrupted a fictional town. “I’m trying not to do that. Protecting the people is number one.”
“Jordan, this is your soap box … you’re the guy who said let’s find a way to make money from the Corn Palace,” Tjarks said.
“The architect told me if we want him to do anything else, we have to pay for another study,” Hanson said. “And I know the city’s view on studies.”
“Ultimately, the Corn Palace is the crown jewel of our community and if we invest in making it a better facility to increase the number of visitors. Then that increases the sales tax, and that’s how we make more improvements for people who want to come to our town and live here and work here,” Tjarks told the Mitchell Republic by phone on Tuesday.
Sales tax collections account for
73% of the city’s annual revenue
.
Tjarks gave examples of the boiler and the freight elevator at the Corn Palace, both of which need replacement, officials say, as reasons to spend the money wisely on something that will last, not on something that is about to be replaced anyway.
“We have all of these major expenses,” Tjarks said. “Let’s look at our annual maintenance costs that we’re putting into things that are worn out and are needing to be replaced and let’s take that part of the budget and … use that toward improvements on the Corn Palace.”
“We’re going to be putting so much into the Corn Palace that should have been done 3-4 years ago,” Council member Dan Sabers said.
The chairs at the Corn Palace are an item requiring ongoing maintenance. A total of 540 of the chairs were
reupholstered in 2024
, for a labor and material cost of $7,000.
The current soft seats at the Corn Palace are 30 years old and the company that made them went out of business. The mayor’s office brought options for discussion ranging from $435,000 to $472,000 to replace the chairs.
“If you go to a motel and sleep in a bad bed, you’ll never go back,” Council member Mike Bathke told the council, recalling a conversation he had. “So we want to make sure we pick the right chair.”
The timeframe to get seats installed before the Corn Palace Festival requires 5 1/2 months before seats arrive, if the council approves Hanson’s original proposal.
“We need a decision within the next 30 days or we will miss our window to get them installed before the next concert and basketball season,” Hanson said.
Bathke asked if the council was going back to the drawing board for the Corn Palace renovations.
“I’m all for doing something with the Corn Palace, but tourism grows our town very little. Will it bring people to town? Yes. But it won’t grow it,” Bathke said.
Smith explained that some of the pre-covid designs included expansion of the stage east, adding telescopic seats and creating more square footage on the floor.
Hanson told the council he asked the architect for a different plan that would not cost $45 million, but Hanson alleged the architect kept going over the same plan. A new plan from the architect firm would come with a new design cost.
Miller was the architect who worked with the Mitchell School District on its performing arts center and current new high school construction project. He was with MSH Architects, which has since been purchased by Omaha-based Schemmer. In 2022, the Mitchell Board of Education
requested Schemmer bring a lower bid
after Schemmer’s design was $20 million over budget for building the Mitchell High School.
Tjarks suggested use of the money the city has in reserves could be put toward the Corn Palace and that seeking sponsorship for the Corn Palace would be a viable option for paying for the renovations.
Smith gave credit to efforts by City Administrator Stephanie Ellwein to find funds in the budget to pay for the Corn Palace expansion.
“There’s a possibility of being able to afford it. We’re gathering information. There’s lots of wasted space. We’re looking at adding an additional 1,000 seats,” Smith told the Mitchell Republic.
When Schemmer put together renovation design concepts in 2022, replacement of the HVAC system was estimated to cost about $6 million, no matter what other improvements were needed.
Jeff Logan spoke during Monday’s meeting at the request of the council. Logan, who sold Logan Luxury Theatre in 2024, renovated the original Roxy Theatre in Mitchell after it was destroyed by a fire in 2001. He’s owned theaters in Huron, Dell Rapids, and Mitchell, and maintained five different seat brands in his time as a theater operator.
Logan wanted city officials to have more chair options and go through the entire bidding process, not just skip ahead because there is already a preferred vendor lined up. He likened the process to buying a truck.
“If you are shopping for a Chevy pickup, you’re not looking at Dodge Rams or Ford F-150s…” Logan said.
He recommended the council choose an American-made Irwin seat, the best seat he has dealt with in all his years buying and maintaining seats.
Along the same lines, Logan addressed the need for a knowledgeable architect. The 2022 architect study was done by David Greusel and Schemmer’s Robin Miller. Gruesel designed Houston’s Minute Maid Park, and various amphitheaters and stadiums from California to New Jersey. There is no indication he would be joining Miller at the next council meeting.
“I would highly encourage for us to hire an architect who specializes in arenas and stadiums,” Logan said.
Logan cited a concert venue in Sioux Falls that went through major and expensive renovations after its first concert because the balconies were not designed for the vibrations and foot traffic of a concert and was susceptible to collapse. He did not want the same thing to happen at the Corn Palace.
Logan also suggested Mitchell City Hall offices should be moved so that the Corn Palace could expand.
“We’re standing in what should be the gift shop,” Logan told the council.
Logan expressed the importance of the Corn Palace for the Mitchell community.
“The Corn Palace — it’s our Mount Rushmore. It’s sacred ground for basketball. It feeds our restaurants and hotels and that provides jobs,” Logan said.
Citizens who would like to express their thoughts about the Corn Palace expansion can do so during Mitchell City Council meetings, the next of which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21.