A Few Thoughts On The Proposed Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Events Center

I'm more than a little divided on this one, folks.

I think I'd best begin this one with a little history as I understand it.

For the last several years, five at least, and perhaps longer than that, my home town of Sioux Falls has been debating putting in something called an events center. The idea behind it is to attract more entertainment and cultural attractions to the city, which will thereby make the economy a little stronger because the people who come to these attractions will spend money on other things, most notably food and lodging, while they're here.

That's an idea that I'm sure that most of my fellow citizens of this fine city are in favor of, even if they can't, won't, or don't admit. Of course, actually making this sort of thing happen is never easy. And this is why I'm kind of split on the matter.

You see, while I can see a lot of benefits to having an events center, I'm not sure we need one at this point. At least not one funded with tax dollars, anyway.

My dad has some strong opinions on the matter, and I agree with a lot of them, at least to an extent. One example he's always bringing up is a recent concert where decent tickets cost something like $120 apiece, and he always asks me if I'd pay that much to go to these events. I always have to tell him no because, really, that was a little much for me. But then again, I do believe the concert in question was a Tom McGraw concert, and though I'm sure he's a good musician and everything, it's not my thing, and I probably wouldn't have been interested in going even if the ticket price had been a hundred dollars less.

One thing I never really do get around to explaining to my dad, though, is that there are events that I'd actually pay good sums of money to go see if they'd come to Sioux Falls. Maybe not anything over $75, but I'd still pay the money to go to them.

A good example of that would be if we had a local Star Trek convention. There were actually three or four of them here during the summers I was in high school, and I went to a couple of them with a friend from school. They were lots of fun and I wouldn't mind having one come through every now and then again. I'd certainly go to them, especially if I could get in for something like $25 or $30 a day.

Or, here's another good example of an event I'd pay for having in town Anthrocon. Or at least something like it, anyway. Maybe call it DakotaFurs or something. I have a feeling there's more interest in such a thing than many people around here may think. The reason I'd like to have one here, in my home town, is because I'd kind of like to know what I'm getting myself into before I invest the time and money into taking the time off from work and going to, in the case of Anthrocon, Pittsburg, PA, where I'd have to pay for not only entry to the con, but also for food, lodging, and transportation to and from the event. Unfortunately, I'm not well off enough to fork over that kind of money to go into that essentially blind, not knowing one way or another if I'll enjoy it.

Sure, there are closer ones, but even Central Midwest Furmeet, the closest one I know if, is in Lawrence, Kansas this year. Still a bit of a stretch for someone on my budget.

Now, with all that in mind, you might think I'm in favor of having this thing built. At the end of the day, though, I'm really not, especially if it involves taxpayer money, and there's a very good reason for that.

See, I've lived here my entire life, pretty much, and I know about all the other venues we already have around. We've got an arena and a convention center already. I think they may even be in the same area. They don't get used for much that I can think of. We've got a great fairgrounds that doesn't get used for much, either, far as I can tell, aside from a few car sales and the regional fair for a week in August. And these are just the ones that come to mind quickly and might do for events like the ones I mentioned above. I'm sure if I bothered to actually look on the city website, I'd be able to find more.

If and when this whole Sioux Falls Events Center thing comes to a vote, I'll more than likely vote against it every chance I get because, quite frankly, I don't think we need to spend something like $300 million on a ginormous venue like this when we've already got plenty of other venues that will more than likely do the trick for most of the events likely to come directly here.