Marshall Mitchell: Mitchell City Council takes Corn Palace gift shop one year at a time
Apr. 21—MITCHELL — The city of Mitchell hopes to one day sell its own corn-themed items directly to tourists, and until then, it contracts out the privilege.
The Mitchell City Council, during its regular meeting on April 21, unanimously renewed a contract for the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce to operate the Corn Palace Gift Shop inside of the Corn Palace in the 2026 season.
The rental fee is being increased from $165,000 to $180,000 for the 2026 summer season. The current rental rate of $165,000 was set in 2023 for the 2024 and the 2025 seasons.
The rate is a 9% increase, and accounts for inflation from 2023 to 2026, according to City Administrator Stephanie Ellwein.
The contract renews the city of Mitchell's agreement with the Chamber, but on a one-year term with the goal of the city operating the Corn Palace gift shop in the future, according to Mitchell Mayor Jordan Hanson.
On the horizon for the city is a potential Corn Palace renovation, which may affect the timing of another contract renewal for the Chamber running the gift shop. As it stands now, the Corn Palace renovations will take an estimated 18 months to design and another 18 months to renovate, according to Hanson.
Previous plans to permanently move the gift shop into the Corn Palace placed the gift shop where the City Hall council chambers are located, which included moving City Hall.
That plan might be renewed, according to council member Jeff Smith.
"What we're trying to do is in phases," Smith told the Mitchell Republic. "And so this would be the gift shop over here and it would be permanently set up."
The phased plan would gain traction for winter time patronage of the Corn Palace gift shop, including those who come to basketball games and other events, according to Smith.
The Mitchell Chamber of Commerce made a few announcements to the council, including historical reenactments at the Corn Palace, and a new $20,000 promotional tourism video to update the existing one, which is dated, according to Chamber of Commerce CEO Mike Lauritsen.
"Historical reenactments are things that the people that come to visit the Corn Palace want to see," Lauritsen said. "And so we're going to have people dressed to make the visitor experience something more memorable."
Lauritsen credited the idea to chamber staff
Doreen Nelson and Jennifer Haddon, who heard requests from bus tour operators for reenactments while at the American Bus Association Conference.
The novelty items will overtake the Corn Palace for the 2026 season after the last Mitchell High School and Dakota Wesleyan University graduation has occurred and will vacate after the completion of the Corn Palace Festival.
During the winter months, the gift shop operates out of a brick and mortar location across the street from the Corn Palace in a building that is owned by the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.
The gift shop sells South Dakota and corn-themed T-shirts, magnets, games, and packaged cobbs and popcorn.
The city and the Chamber had until May 1 to renew the contract for the 2026 season, according to a previous agreement.
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