Simplified: It's not goodbye – it's see you later. That was the vibe during a Monday afternoon Riverline District Steering Committee meeting in which the committee voted to "press pause" on its work until a community partner steps in to take the lead on advocating for a new convention center downtown.
Why it matters
- The steering committee was established last fall to help the city decide whether it should purchase an $8 million parcel of land east of downtown for the purpose of building a new convention center.
- One year later, the land is long-since purchased, and consultants have laid out potential options for building, funding and operating a new, 330,000-square-foot convention center at an estimated cost of $250 million. The only hang up is there isn’t any set entity in charge of moving the project forward.
- It won’t be led by the city, as Mayor Paul TenHaken told committee members earlier this year. And so far, there hasn’t been a community group established to advocate for a new convention center downtown, leaving the project in limbo. But committee members say they still have work to do, and this isn’t the end of the road.
“We’re going to continue work behind-the-scenes,” said Bob Mundt, president and CEO of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. “So, six months from now, nine months from now, we can come forward with this information.”
Tell me more
In addition to advising the city on the land purchase, the committee was also responsible for the following:
- creating a project timeline,
- reviewing and recommending a final design and cost estimate,
- and recommending a timeline for an advisory election.
"It doesn’t make a lot of sense to work on those three things until we know we’ve got strong community support," Councilor and committee chair Rich Merkouris said.
City officials have said the plan for a downtown convention center will come to a public vote before it ultimately moves forward.
What work has been done so far?
The city paid a Chicago-based consulting firm more than $200,000 to put together a report. The consultants found evidence that the city can support a downtown convention center with a potential annual economic impact of more than $55 million.
- That projected revenue will come at a cost to the city, though. Convention centers aren't historically a money maker, and consultants estimate the annual operating costs would level off at around $250,000 after about five years with higher costs. Those costs don't include debt service on the $250 million to build the facility.
You can find more background here:
Megan Raposa
Megan Raposa
What happens next?
According to the committee, this is a pause, not a complete stop. But, as committee member Alex Halbach noted, the longer the consultant report sits on the shelf, the more outdated the data collected will become.
There are also a couple of external factors that could throw a wrench into plans moving forward.
- The first is a change in city leadership. Sioux Falls will elect a new mayor next June, as well as potential for four new City Council members.
- The second is a ticking clock on the land purchase. If the city doesn't break ground on a project within five years, the seller has the opportunity to buy the parcel back for the sale price of $8 million.
