Corn Palace

Corn Palace
Street view of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, in 2008
General information
Type	multi-purpose arena/facility
Coordinates	43°42′53″N 98°01′34″W / 43.714644°N 98.026019°W / 43.714644; -98.026019Coordinates: 43°42′53″N 98°01′34″W / 43.714644°N 98.026019°W / 43.714644; -98.026019
Completed	1921 (dome and minarets added in 1937)
Owner	City of Mitchell
Management	City of Mitchell
Height
Antenna spire	26.2 m (86 ft) (flagpole)
Roof	20.7 m (68 ft) (dome)
Technical details
Floor count	2
Floor area	4,042.2 m2 (43,510 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Rapp & Rapp
Other information
Seating capacity	3,200

The Corn Palace, commonly advertised as The World's Only Corn Palace and the Mitchell Corn Palace, is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in Mitchell, South Dakota. The Moorish Revival building is decorated with crop art; the murals and designs covering the building are made from corn and other grains, and a new design is constructed each year. The Corn Palace is a popular tourist destination, visited by between 200,000 and 500,000 people each year.

The Corn Palace serves the community as a venue for concerts, sports events, exhibits and other community events. Each year, the Corn Palace is celebrated with a citywide festival, the Corn Palace Festival. Historically it was held at harvest time in September, but recently it has been held at the end of August. Other popular annual events include the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo in July and the Corn Palace Polka Festival in September. It is also home to the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers and the Mitchell High School Kernels basketball teams.

In the late 19th Century, a number of cities on the Great Plains constructed "crop palaces" (also known as "grain palaces") to promote themselves and their products. As the idea succeeded, it spread, including: a Corn Palace in Sioux City, Iowa, that was active from 1887–1891; a Corn Palace in Gregory, South Dakota; a Grain Palace in Plankinton, South Dakota; and a Bluegrass Palace in Creston, Iowa.

The original Mitchell Corn Palace (known as "The Corn Belt Exposition") was built in 1892 to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and encourage people to settle in the area. It was a wooden castle structure on Mitchell's Main Street, built on land donated by Louis Beckwith, a member of the First Corn Palace Committee. In 1904–1905, the city of Mitchell mounted a challenge to the city of Pierre in an unsuccessful attempt to replace it as the state capital of South Dakota. As part of this effort, the Corn Palace was rebuilt in 1905. In 1921, the Corn Palace was rebuilt once again, with a design by the architectural firm Rapp and Rapp of Chicago. Russian-style onion domes and Moorish minarets were added in 1937, giving the Palace the distinctive appearance that it has today. It costs $130,000 annually to decorate the Palace.