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Rapid City Forms Committee To Study Future Of Civic Center

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Rapid City’s mayor has assembled a 17-member advisory committee to study the future of the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center after voters rejected a $180 million proposal to expand and upgrade the facility.

The Rapid City Journal ( ) reports Mayor Steve Allender formed the committee to figure out what to do next with the aging facility, which needs $73 million in upgrades to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards and other non-compliance issues.

The committee has met twice already.

Residents in March voted against the project, which would have replaced the facility’s 9,400-seat arena with one that could seat up to 19,000 people.

Expansion supporters considered it a wiser investment than upgrading the existing facility, while opponents questioned the cost of what would have been the costliest project in city history.

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Information from: Rapid City Journal,