Rapid City Panel Studies Arena

Rapid City, S.D.’s mayor has put together a 17-member advisory committee to study the future of the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center after voters rejected a $180 million proposal to expand and upgrade the facility.

Mayor Steve Allender formed the committee to brainstorm what happens next with the aging facility, which needs $73 million in upgrades to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards and other non-compliance issues. The committee has met twice already.

City officials and the federal government earlier this year agreed on a plan to make the Civic Center ADA-compliant within 2 1/2 years.

Residents in March voted against the project, which would have replaced the facility’s 9,400-seat arena with one that could seat up to 19,000 people.

Expansion backers considered it a smarter investment than upgrading the existing facility, while opponents questioned the cost of what would have been the costliest project in city history.