Mitchell’s Corn Palace serves multiple functions. It’s a tourist attraction, basketball arena and events center.
But its size is a limiting factor. So city officials are thinking about an expansion.
The city council is reviewing interest statements from designers, architects and construction companies. Doug Greenway is the director of the Corn Palace. He says the project may require major building changes.
“Initially, there are some that said, you know, without pushing out walls, raising the roof, lowering the floor, that may not be a possibility. But those are all things we asked them to consider; how we can get 5,000 seats and nearly double our floor space with retractable seating.”
The city built the Corn Palace in 1892 to give the community a gathering space. Today, the Palace receives nearly 500-thousand visitors annually. Greenway says the city has the capability to host more and larger events.
“We have the motel rooms, we have the restaurants, we have the infrastructure, we just don’t have the space.”
Greenway says he wants to increase opportunities for large indoor events, but also preserve the character of the Corn Palace.
“It’s very important to me as the director that we maintain this as a tourist attraction. We have that large number of people come every year to see those corn murals on the outside, the Oscar Howe originals on the inside, and maintaining those murals is very important to the Corn Palace, and to me and I think the city.”
Greenway says a decision to expand the building will depend on the estimated price tag.