Rapid City Forms Committee to Study Future of Civic Center

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Rapid City's mayor has assembled 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.

The Rapid City Journal reports Mayor Steve Allender formed the committee to figure out what to do 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.

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

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