Study Recommends Demolition of Sioux Arena and Stadium
The Events Campus Study Group was tasked with coming up with recommendations for the Event Center Campus and surrounding area and they have delivered their findings.
Their main recommendations include the demolition of the Sioux Falls Arena and adjacent Sioux Falls Stadium.
This would pave the way for more convention space and much needed full service hotels to continue to aid the bids to bring major NCAA events and concerts to the area.
Currently, the Arena is operating at a $600,000 loss each fiscal year and the capital investments continue to add up for a facility that has seen much better days.
Once home to the major concerts and events, the fabulous Premier Center has taken its place and provided a much better home for major events in the area.
The Arena has seen its tenants leave as well with both the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Augustana University basketball teams heading to the Sanford Pentagon.
The Sioux Falls Stadium is in need of about $3 million in safety repairs as well.
So what will happen to the Sioux Falls Canaries once their current home is tore down?
The hope is to have a new stadium but the likelihood of it going downtown is slim to none and that is the smart call.
A new location like the Sanford Sports Complex would be the ideal location and the hope would be that the Sanford Sports folks would welcome the edition of a baseball stadium to their ever growing sports mecca.
By having it placed out there, it would cost the tax payers way less money, if any at all and it would make the most sense logistically.
Sioux Falls is a ever changing city and that of course is for the better, but with that growth and progression comes moving on from the past and it appears that's what will happen to the Arena and Stadium.