DakotaDome documentary showcases Dome’s impact in South Dakota

2019 marks 40th anniversary of the DakotaDome and a new documentary, which premiered on Midco Sports Network Tuesday, tells the stories of the Dome’s past, present and future. 

USD’s Public Relations Office and Marketing department premiered the documentary with a red carpet event at Old Lumber Company and the Coyote Twin Theater last Thursday. The event brought students, faculty and alumni together to celebrate the stories of the Dome. 

Directors Hailie Warren, public relations officer, and Adam Gomez, digital content producer for the marketing department, started the project in January 2019 and gathered alumni, faculty, coaches and current student-athletes to not only showcase the current renovations but bring the history of the Dome to life. 

“We are celebrating 40 years in the Dome and before we can look forward we had to get the foundations, but there is nowhere to go to get the full story. We chose to look at the ‘founding fathers’ of the Dakotadome and tell the story of how meaningful its impact has been,” Warren said.

The documentary started from the birth of the dome in and carried through the present and into what USD looks to do in the future. 

Warren and Gomez used help from USD’s marketing department and a team of interns to help make the documentary a reality.

Lead editor Peyton Beyers (photo editor of The Volante), with the help of Enosh Kattinapudi assembled the production’s puzzle pieces, Gomez said.

“I work with a very dedicated team of interns that helped out the bits and pieces together,” Gomez said.  

Gomez isn’t a USD alum, but has lived in Vermillion for two years and finds USD culture to be strong. He said the DakotaDome is a staple to the community and its residents.

“One thing I learned about USD quickly was there is a lot of pride in the university and Vermillion and that extends to the alumni. I wanted to make sure that people felt that kind of pride when I was creating the documentary,” Gomez said.

Warren said she enjoyed Thursday’s event in front of an audience clad in red, but was glad the documentary finally met its finish.

“Hearing the audience chuckling or sniffling and just responding so positively was so rewarding,” Warren said.