Construction is full-steam ahead on the Denny Sanford Premier Center and once completed in 2014, it will have a seating capacity of 12,000 spectators. The facility will be named after title sponsors First Premier Bank and T. Denny Sanford.The existing Sioux Falls Arena will remain and will host smaller concerts and events, with the Denny Sanford Premier Center hosting large scale concerts and sporting events.

The first five months of work on the site has been preparation and construction footings and foundations. The next phase underway is the construction of four towers as the building will be more than 100 feet tall when it is completed.

One interesting part of this $115 million project is instead of exposed beams common in a number of venues, the Denny Sanford Premier Center will have ceilings.

The building is named after South Dakota’s most-famous 1-percenter, T. Denny Sanford, philanthropist extraordinaire.

This 2007 Forbes profile humanizes the man behind the money. His mother died when he was 4 and his father died of heart disease at a young age.

This statue of T. Denny Sanford stands at the Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls. (Image from Wikipedia/Jake DeGroot)

Sanford worked in his father's clothing distribution company and later attended St. Paul Central High School. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1958 with a degree in psychology.

In the last four years alone, he has given away over $700 million as he has made millions in his credit card businesses.

His permanent residence is in Sioux Falls but he also maintains homes in Scottsdale, Arizona, Vail, Colorado, and La Jolla, California.

As he constructs plans on another contribution, construction continues on a new events center in Sioux Falls with his name on it.

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