Discussion begins on updating Sioux Falls event center complex

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) -Discussions have started back up on what to do with the Sioux Falls event center complex.

The complex includes the Denny Sanford Premier Center, Convention Center and Arena and the Birdcage.

The city is working in hopes to revitalize the area for the hundreds of events held there each year.

The project was started before the pandemic with a study group but stopped due to lack of resources.

The general manager of the complex, Mike Krewson, says it feels good to revisit the different possibilities for the area, specifically the arena.

“The mayor’s task force presented their findings; it was late 2019 or early 2020 and recommended that the arena be repurposed for additional convention space as well as the baseball stadium. So covid hits, we pause, those talks have heated up again,” said Mike Krewson, general manager of the complex.

They say now is a great time to begin to talk about different opportunities for that space.

“The arena which has been here since the 1960′s and in many ways has kind of outlived its usefulness especially with the replacement and the event center being built and so the square footage right now is being used but it’s not being maximized,” said Shawn Pritchett, director of finance for the city of Sioux Falls.

The Canaries baseball stadium has also been discussed.

Brian Jamros, president of Sioux Falls Canaries says serving the community is a main priority.

“We have great bones, you know the city is very supportive of what we do at the stadium currently, so it’s a little bit of both, it’s a little bit about making sure that we upkeep what we currently have and making sure that our fans and our community have a great experience when they come out to a ball game but then also what we could do if we did have a new stadium,” said Brian Jamros, president of Sioux Falls Canaries.

Growth in Sioux Falls is also a contributing factor.

“A good six to eight months out of the year we are very full, and we actually turn business away so that again one of those economic drivers that we really have to look at this space to see what those next steps are,” said Krewson.

Organizers say this project is still in the initial stages and any events planned will still be held at their original locations.

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