Mitchell City Council looks at major projects

Proposals for five major projects were under review by the Mitchell City Council on Monday night at City Hall.

They included $11.5 million for a Rec Center expansion, $11.4 million for a “Next Generation” Corn Palace, $2.4 million for a second ice sheet, $2.2 million for a library remodel and expansion and an undisclosed amount for relocating City Hall.

Councilman Travis Carpenter emphasized the council was reviewing plans and no final decisions would be made or dollars allocated.

“These are all proposals,” Carpenter said, and Councilman Mel Olson said he hoped people understood that. A flurry of cost estimates, proposals and questions filled the council room during the meeting.

The Recreation Center needs an upgrade, said Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department Director Dusty Rodiek.

“Our objective with this project is to create a family atmosphere at the Rec Center,” Rodiek said. “That’s not to say there isn’t now.”

But he said the building was designed with an emphasis on workout areas. Now, most people, especially those with children, want play areas and other places in the building for programs and activities.

The current pool is more than 40 years old, Rodiek said, and is not large enough for competitive swimming events. A new pool would offer meet specifications and have seating for crowds at meets.

A new gymnasium would also be added to the facility. There is a need for more space and programs, he said, with a 10 percent increase in membership in the last few years. The center is simply outgrowing its space, Rodiek said.

A proposal for a second Rec Center located near Cadwell Park has been introduced by a private group, Rodiek said. He had no dollar figures for it, since a submitted budget needed to be “refined,” he said, before it could be publicly discussed.

If the new center is built, the city would offer the current Rec Center to the school district, Rodiek said.

Doug Dailey, chairman of the “Next Generation” Corn Palace committee, reviewed plans for a project to enhance the building and make it more inviting and interesting to visitors.

Dailey said the goal is to “improve the visitor experience” for the Corn Palace and the downtown area while also making it more attractive to locals and instilling a greater sense of civic pride.

The plan calls for removing the second-level gym floor located above City Hall and placing exhibits there, Corn Palace Director Mark Schilling said. An elevator would be added and it would be made to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Schilling said a second basketball floor would be added in another area under the plan.

Councilman Mel Olson, who worked as a Corn Palace guide in the mid-1990s, said a new Palace is needed. Olson said more than 400,000 people came through it 20 years ago. Now, it’s 250,000 and declining, and he said it will be 100,000 in another decade unless something else is done.

“The initial return on investment is not to lose any more money,” Olson said.

Councilman Marty Barington, who serves on the committee, called the plan “phase one” and said it was the minimum amount of improvements needed. Barington said there is a simple response if more is discarded to allow other city projects to move ahead.

“The answer of the committee is no,” he said.

Barington said if this proposal was scaled back, the entire thing should be dropped.

The plan released Monday is a far cry from the $35 million proposal unveiled in January, Dailey admitted. He said the committee heard the public loud and clear.

But it still calls for a streetscape around the Corn Palace, improving the facade with lights and larger murals, placing mosaic tiles on the lower area of the exterior and adding an observation area, perhaps a balcony.