As if we didn’t do enough monument building in the past 8 years, here we go down that rabbit hole again;
If the Sioux Falls Canaries get a new home anytime soon, it should go downtown.
That’s one of the takeaways from a report that’s been shared with the Sioux Falls City Council that resulted from an intensive study of city-owned entertainment and convention facilities that took place last fall.
Here we go again. A consultant that taxpayers paid for are telling us what the administration wants us to hear. Think Midco Aquatic Facility. When is the city instead going to ask for public input on these matters instead of an expensive consultant?
Sioux Falls Stadium is 55 years old and hasn’t had any major upgrades in nearly two decades. The report says annual attendance averages there have declined steadily since 2013, which could be a result of the game experience that an outdated facility provides patrons.
A new stadium and a more active location could bring those attendance numbers back up, according to the report.
Maybe numbers are down because people don’t care? Why not ask the public? With all the different entertainment options these days in Sioux Falls, maybe people just are not as interested in baseball as much?
If I was the city council, I would explore some options. 1) Tear down the stadium for more parking at the Denty. 2) Refurbish the stadium, but make the baseball franchise pony up at least 50% or more. 3) Don’t build a new stadium downtown if we decide to tear it down. Have Canaries use Harmadon Park, or fold.
Some mention it would make a good place for concerts downtown. Hey McFly, we are building the Levitt Pavilion for $5 million for outdoor concerts downtown already.
Enough already with special interest monument building that none of us benefit from except having another bond to pay off. Besides the skatepark proposal which organizers have promised to kick in $500K privately, we really just need to take a deep breath and take a break for awhile.
I really think the next council and mayor need to use 2018 as a year to review finances. They also need to do forensic audits of all the departments budgets and enterprise funds. They also need to look at deregulation and LOWERING fees and taxes.
This Spend, Spend, Spend mentality is going to eventually break us.