Will the Internet Make Rapid City’s Proposed Civic Center Obsolete?

The world has changed dramatically during the 40 years since Rapid City’s Convention Center got its start. Today the Don Barnett Arena, LaCroix Hall and the Fine Arts Theater couldn’t be built for $12.7 million.  Rather, the local newspaper has estimated that “Financing would push civic center expansion to $353 million,” adding that “the project — which would then become the most expensive in city history — could be done without ever coming to a public vote. Along the way, it could also consume almost all future so-called Vision Funds that are generated by a local sales tax and have paid for dozens of community projects.”

       The Rushmore Plaza Civic Center has been primarily a public entertainment venue over the years.  Big name celebrities like Elvis and Dylan would come to perform. High school sporting championships would attract fans from across the state.  The restaurant and hotel businesses especially made lots of money, employing numerous workers, while giving Rapid City the look and feel of a municipality on the go.  People could eat out as never before, making home-cooked meals less important.

      During the intervening years, however, the Internet has changed the very nature of entertainment seeking.  People now tend to stay home to watch events on their big flat screens, providing perhaps a boon for the family and a boost for personal selection.  Expensive tickets and refreshments are becoming less attractive.  And despite aggressive support by local media, the world of organized team sports is also undergoing change.  Basketball and football may be on their way out, soccer in.

      In the Black Hills, the public clamor for better Internet service is almost explosive.   Demand far outstrips supply.  Viewers are unhappy with expensive satellite television options, which are loaded with commercials and cultural bias in program selection.   Internet Service Providers may be underhandedly slowing down popular viewing options like Netflix.  As reported in the May issue of Consumer Reports, “a federal court decision, Verizon vs. FCC, struck down the FCC’s Open Internet Rules, which forbade Internet service providers (ISPs) from blacking, slowing down, or charging more for bandwidth-intensive streaming services, such as Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, and Skype.”

        South Dakota government and politicians seem unsure of themselves in addressing the real expansion needs of the state, relating to making the Internet and bandwidth more widely available to consumers.  News media report very little on the subject.  Meanwhile cities across America are taking advantage of forward-looking opportunities like Goggle Fiber and fiber to premises construction projects, which may well make initiatives like Rapid City’s proposed civic center obsolete.