Mitchell's events center task force has received a preliminary cost estimate from an architect and is waiting for an estimate on another possible site before finalizing its report for the mayor and City Council.
The nine-member task force, appointed by former Mayor Alice Claggett, has been working on an events center plan for the past 15 months. Task force members gave the City Council an update on their progress in April, and at that time they hoped to present a preliminary design and cost estimate to the council by July 3.
But the task force is still working and is not ready to say when it will report to the council. Chairman Spencer Gross said the task force will meet to go over the preliminary cost estimate Friday and should be ready to finalize a report soon.
"It's time to move," Gross said.
Three locations -- two downtown and one on the state Route 37 bypass -- are being considered as sites for the events center. Task force members have declined to specifically identify the sites.
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The task force is hoping for a facility with 8,000 seats that could retract to provide 45,000 square feet of floor space. The cost of such a facility has been estimated by some to be at least $20 million.
Gross declined Wednesday to reveal the amount of the preliminary cost estimate, but he said it was "about where we thought it was going to be."
The task force is working with HOK Sport, a Kansas City architectural firm that has designed many well-known professional sports facilities and is working with the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees, among others.
One of the reasons for the delay in the task force's progress is its increased focus, apparently at the behest of the council and mayor, on methods of paying for the events center's construction.
"We were working at that from the beginning, but we're working on it more comprehensively than we were before," Gross said.
The task force was created in April 2005 by Claggett after local voters rejected a city-funded convention center plan. One of the factors in the election was a movement called "Events Center First," in which people called for construction of an events center before a convention center.
The need for a larger athletics and events facility was highlighted in March 2005 when an executive with the South Dakota High School Activities Association said the Corn Palace is too small to host future state tournaments.
Since the convention center election and the creation of the events center task force, another convention center proposal has surfaced and has advanced through two city committees. The backers of the proposal, which calls for the construction of a $2 million conference center in southeast Mitchell, say it would have no negative effect on the city's ability to construct an events center.
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When the events center task force finally reports to the City Council, it plans to present a proposed design, site and cost.
