Donation paves way for arena
Sanford Health is donating $20 million over a 20-year period to the University of South Dakota in an effort to transform USD’s athletic facilities.
The donation will go toward building a basketball arena and an adjoining building that will contain a new weight room, office space, classrooms and a sports medicine area that will connect the basketball arena to the DakotaDome. The entire project, which includes renovations to the DakotaDome, will cost $70 million.
“The Sanford gift gets us well on our way,” said South Dakota Foundation President Steve Brown. “We are less leery of whether this will happen or not.”
Sanford Health is a not-for-profit organization with headquarters in Fargo, N.D., and Sioux Falls, S.D. Sanford is the largest employer in both North and South Dakota and has more than 35 hospitals and 140 clinic locations in seven states and five
ountries.
Sanford set aside $7 million in support of a connecting building between the DakotaDome and a basketball arena, while the remaining $13 million will be for the basketball arena.
USD athletic director David Sayler said at first, the university did not have to ask Sanford for the donation. The university presented their plan for the new athletic complex to Sanford. Sanford then asked how the university planned on building the facilities, and then an agreement was made between the two parties. The donation would be made, and Sanford would remain the sports medicine provider for USD for another 15 years.
Sayler said the DakotaDome does not have a lot of atmosphere for basketball and that a lot of the space is being used for storage.
With the Sanford donation, USD has raised about $30 million for the project. Brown said he believes the donation will help push fundraising efforts forward.
“The most unique part of this project is that everyone will benefit,” Sayler said. “All of the teams could practice at the same time.”
Presently, teams have to stagger practices at the DakotaDome, which results in athletes having to practice at odd hours.
“It is definitely a stressful situation,” said pole vault coach Derek Miles.
Miles said although USD boasts one of the best pole-vaulting programs in the country, it is sometimes hard to recruit high caliber athletes because the university does not have an indoor track, despite the upgrade to Division I.
“It will help us most from a recruiting standpoint,” Miles said.
Brown said once half of the funds for the project have been raised, it will begin moving forward, at which point the university would guarantee the project’s completion through a bond.
“We are working very hard to get those commitments,” said Brown. “The state would not build an arena for us, it needs to be done through philanthropy.”
Brown said the university may break ground on the project as soon as the spring of 2013.
In the meantime, the university is working on raising the additional funds necessary for the project.
“I don’t want money to be why we don’t do this,” Sayler said.
Reach reporter Braley Dodson at [email protected].
