(Editor's note: This is just one part of a series of stories about local candidates in the upcoming June 2 primary, municipal and school board election. Find more coverage here.)
Simplified: One of Mayor Paul TenHaken's big initiatives in his final term as mayor was an effort to purchase land downtown – the Riverline District – as a proposed site for a new convention center. That plan is on pause, but the city still owns the land for the time being. Sioux Falls Simplified asked each City Council candidate for their thoughts on a downtown convention center.
Here's what we asked:
Do you support building a new convention center downtown?
Here's how candidates answered (in alphabetical order):
Michael Crane
"I think that that certainly is something that has to be in the mix for a discussion of what goes on the Smithfield site as we get to that point," Crane said. "But that in and of itself is a very complicated issue to bring to play, and it would require that we not just build it there (but that) it’s integrated somehow into the rest of downtown. So I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done, and that's the one nice thing is we're not pressed for time. We can do it, and we can do it right to come up with a good plan."
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Brady Kerkman
Kerkman said the city already has a convention center, but the city also wants to continue to attract people here rather than to other nearby cities like Omaha or Minneapolis.
"That's a great revenue builder for us," he said. "Obviously, when people come in for a weekend to attend a concert, they're staying here, they're in hotels, they're eating here, they're shopping here. That's exactly what we want to see in our city."
Sara Pankonin
Pankonin said it's more a matter of "where" than "if." She's not big on the current Riverline District site where the convention center was proposed, and suggested perhaps considering the property that's currently the downtown post office.
"I think maybe like the Smithfield area would be a good spot for it or maybe that post office building," she said. "But I don't know who owns that or was planning to do something else with it."
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