Mitchell City Councilman says 'something needs to be done' to repair a Corn Palace in 'terrible shape'

Feb. 6—MITCHELL — Mitchell's biggest tourist attraction is in need of some tender loving and care.

That was the consensus of the Mitchell City Council's discussion Monday about the condition of the Corn Palace.

A roof leak, torn chairs and HVAC breakdowns are among the latest issues. Council President Kevin McCardle said the growing list of repairs has the Corn Palace in "terrible shape," and he's urging city leaders to act now.

"It's a place that brings about a half a million people a year to Mitchell, and you'd think we'd want it looking good and keeping it up. If we want people to keep coming here, we have to put some money into it and fix it up," McCardle said. "Every business in town profits from this building."

Of the items in need of repair, the council indicated fixing the worn-down soft seats is the top priority. McCardle said he counted 776 soft seats along the west side of the basketball court, nearly half of the 1,792 soft seats, with torn fabric exposing foam cushions.

Corn Palace Director Doug Greenway gave the council a glimpse of the work he and his staff take on to fix problems the Corn Palace has been experiencing lately. Fixing the soft seats has become a weekly task, Greenway said.

"We fix probably two or three chairs on a weekly basis. They come loose in the cement, and we have to drill them out and put new anchors in. It's just sheer use," Greenway said. "There's no doubt it's a problem."

Greenway said over $1,000 worth of fabric was recently ordered, which will replace 600 torn fabric seat coverings. The cost of installing the fabric combined with the cost of the material equates to about $3,900, Greenway said.

Talks of replacing the aging soft seats have been discussed in previous years, but it's a project that hasn't made it into the budget. The council approves the city's budget each year.

City Administrator Stephanie Ellwein said past discussions of replacing the soft seats came with price tags hovering around $750,000 to $1 million.

"You could easily replace the chairs, but you won't address the width of the seats and number of them. In the previous discussions, it was a push and pull of replacing seats while losing out on some seating," Ellwein said.

Greenway said there are a myriad of seats on the market, including seats without armrests and others with cup holders.

Ellwein cautioned the council about the process a total replacement of the seats would entail. She suggested repairing the soft seats is worthwhile until the city has a clear direction on future plans for the Corn Palace, which includes a potential expansion based on past discussions.

"Those things take time. You're going to have to demo, expose the existing seats and go out to bid for this project. The Corn Palace is used year-round, and I don't think it is a waste of money to reupholster the seats in the interim," she said.

McCardle recommended the city receive bids on replacing the soft seats and not continue putting money into repairing them. Council member Mike Bathke supports exploring options to replace the soft seats as soon as possible.

Now that the Corn Palace is no longer bound to the sponsorships outlined in the previous contract with Daktronics — which ended a couple years ago — Council member Jeff Smith said seeking out sponsors to fund major improvement projects like seat replacements should be an option to consider.

"If we get a project the public gets behind, why don't we go out and try to sell this thing to a private company as a sponsorship? Every large arena in the state has a name associated with it, and why don't we? That way we could maybe pay for all of it," Smith said.

While the Corn Palace is in need of repairs, about $50,000 has been spent over the past two years in fixing some of the HVAC issues. However, some of the fixes have been more of a Band-Aid, Corn Palace Supervisor Jeff Hanson said.

"We still have one boiler that is down out of the three we have. When we have leaks, the tiles get wet. We will replace tiles when that happens and try to patch up what we can," Hanson said, noting the ceiling "keeps leaking."

According to Ellwein, the latest study on the Corn Palace showed it would take an estimated $5 million to replace the facility's mechanical, electrical and plumbing system. Ellwein said replacing one of the boilers that is out of service would cost $250,000. Replacing the HVAC chiller is estimated to cost $1.2 million.

"As you can see, the equipment itself is quite a big purchase and you're not getting the full system replacement like the study showed," Ellwein said.

If the Corn Palace is not adequately repaired, McCardle is concerned of potentially losing out on hosting Mitchell High School and Dakota Wesleyan University basketball games at the Corn Palace. The schools both play their home games at the Corn Palace.

"The new high school will have a nice gym, and they could easily decide to stop playing at the Palace and play there instead," McCardle said. "If we let the Corn Palace get in worse shape, I think that could be a real possibility."

In 2022, the city hired an architect to develop a list of Corn Palace remodeling plans that would improve seating and expand the facility to potentially host more events and state athletic tournaments.

The past discussions of the remodeling plans revealed the council strongly supported the concept of adding more seats and floor space to attract more events. However, the price tags of the plans — which ranged from $18 million on the low end to over $40 million on the high end — were not feasible while also considering a multimillion-dollar Lake Mitchell dredging project that has become a higher priority for some city leaders.

Council members Smith and Susan Tjarks indicated they are less enthusiastic for a major Corn Palace expansion plan compared to a couple years ago when architects provided the city with several expansion options.

Expanding and remodeling the entire Corn Palace after the city invested $7.2 million roughly a decade ago into a major interior renovation in the lobby area has Smith questioning whether an expansion is the right move.

"When we are talking about the different expansion plans, we would be taking out all of the renovations we did 10 years ago in the lobby area. That's been bothering me," Smith said.