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Well, something indeed is better than nothing.
That was among my initial reactions after reading recently in the Argus Leader about doings that are afoot to bring an events center to the near west side of the city.
My very first reaction, of course, was *@)#~! that my colleagues, yet competitors, down the hall were the ones who broke the story.
Nonetheless, another soothing reaction quickly surfaced. That was thank God for local business leadership.
It is becoming increasingly clear to even the most skeptical among us that Sioux Falls needs an events center.
The 46-year-old Arena has served this city well, but it’s no longer sufficient enough to function as the type of entertainment venue that this growing city on the prairie deserves.
A couple of years ago, city officials helped assemble business leaders who, in turn, produced a detailed proposal to get an events center built. The group’s conclusion: Locate it downtown.
Nonetheless, public officials were unable to convince residents at large of the benefits of a downtown site.
As it turns out, we can’t even get an indoor pool built.
Along the way, a disturbing disconnection between governors and the governed has put the idea of an events center on the back burner.
That’s why the appearance of the Coliseum Exploration Group, whose creation was reported in the Argus Leader, is such good news.
The group’s emergence might function as the bridge from the Sioux Falls of yesterday to the Sioux Falls of tomorrow.
With a reported goal of drafting a business plan to run the facility and raising money to build it, the exploration group could succeed at doing what public officials could not.
And at this stage in Sioux Falls’ growth, an events center near the Arena is much better than no facility at all.
Reports of the committee’s work include a revelation that it potentially could identify a single donor to cover half of the estimated $100 million needed to build a center.
There’s a short list of folks in South Dakota with $50 million on hand, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that a Sanford Coliseum is eminent.
A donation from local philanthropist and businessman T. Denny Sanford would be the prevailing assumption, especially considering that the exploration committee’s membership includes Kelby Krabbenhoft, president and chief executive officer of Sanford Health, and Dana Dykhouse, president and CEO of First Premier Bank.
Sanford owns First Premier and is the health system’s namesake.
However, one of Sanford’s recent donations includes $5 million to the University of South Dakota School of Business. In exchange, Sanford suggested that the school be named in honor of Miles Beacom, president and chief executive officer of Premier Bankcard. Sanford also owns that company.
Therefore, down the interstate, on USD’s campus in Vermillion, you’ll now find the Beacom School of Business. And Sanford has said previously that he doesn’t need his name on everything.
During a recent Business Journal staff meeting, folks at this end of the Argus Leader Media building produced the idea that a possible events center one day could bear the Premier name, if Sanford turns out to be a major donor.
Of course, speculating about naming rights and possible big-time gifts for an events center isn’t really the point.
Building a facility in the first place – any place – is. And thankfully, there are local business leaders who get that.
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