Rapid City announces the grand opening of the Summit Arena at “The Monument”

Members of the community and the project team will gather today to celebrate the official soft opening of Summit Arena at The Monument with a half-house show featuring Of King and Country. The full capacity official opening will take place on November 21^st with The Zac Brown Band.

The new $130 million Summit Arena is a dynamic addition to the west side of the existing Rushmore Plaza Civic Center and will host a multitude of event types including, sporting events, concerts, dirt shows, trade shows and conferences attracting more visitors and ultimately growing the economic impact to the city.

The new arena focuses on the patron experience at all levels, including a design that is not only ADA compliant but stives to be inclusive in all areas. From sightlines and egress to specialised amenities and the most efficient bowl configuration, the overall goal of Summit Arena design is to optimise each event experience for the visitor.

With a maximum seating capacity of 11,500 for a centre stage concert setup, the arena will allow the City of Rapid City to not only host all the events that have a history in the venue but also large concerts, sporting events and other culture events that the building could not accommodate previously.

Premium level

Summit Arena has a flexible 85’x200’ floor setup and was designed utilising a unique bowl configuration. It is often described by visitors as an asymmetric bowl with a balanced configuration, where there is an elevated mid/upper bowl with two stacked 10,000 square foot premium levels.

By elevating the upper bowl and providing access off an expanded main concourse, all services such as concessions, grab N go’s, bars and restroom are shared by upper and lower bowl patrons.

From an operations perspective this reduces the number of required staff members needed to operate the facility and keeps all services open for all events. It also has the inherent benefit of reducing the overall square footage of the arena maximising the efficiency of the venue.

The previous Barnett Arena, which was bult in 1977, is not a viable large concert venue due to its limited infrastructure and size but will be utilised as overflow floor space at stock shows, industry shows, tournaments and powwows as the two facilities are connected at the Event Level.

Summit Arena is opening to a full lineup to of winter events to be enjoyed by the community and the entire region.

Imagery, courtesy: Perkins&Will

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