Board receives update on Corn Palace repair work, sifts through 'Wonders of the World' 2025 mural theme
Mar. 16—MITCHELL — Corn Palace officials made it through another winter of sporting events despite a growing list of repair work they say is stacking up.
Atop the list of major repairs is fixing the deteriorating soft seats aligning the west side of the Corn Palace court. During Tuesday's Corn Palace Board meeting, Corn Palace Director Doug Greenway said materials needed to reupholster the soft seats are less than two weeks away from arriving.
"We're waiting on some yarn. It's been a long process. As soon as that is in, we have our upholster cut and sew for us to then apply the cloth," Greenway said. "We plan to have enough upholstery to do 600 seat covers. That's going to be a nice upgrade."
The hundreds of torn up soft seats sparked discussion among the Mitchell City Council in February. The council is considering whether to repair the soft seats or replace all 1,792.
In the meantime, the seats will be improved with routine maintenance.
City Administrator Stephanie Ellwein said past discussions of replacing the soft seats came with price tags hovering around $750,000 to $1 million. The cost to repair the 600 soft seats that will begin shortly is roughly $3,900, according to Greenway.
Now that basketball season is over, it's allowed Corn Palace officials to address more repairs. Greenway said additional improvements will be made to the lights and other parts of the interior.
"We're repairing lights, replacing fixtures and toilets — just general maintenance things we don't always have time to do when we have games everyday," Greenway said.
"Wonders of the World" has officially emerged as the 2025 Corn Palace mural theme.
The board received rough drafts on Tuesday showing what the new murals would look like speckled along Mitchell's biggest tourist attraction.
Board members were provided 10 designs, which means one design has to be eliminated since the Corn Palace has nine murals. Mount Everest was nixed from the designs.
The Wonders of the World that will be decorated into Corn Palace murals are Christ the Redeemer statue, Rome Colosseum, Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, Sydney Opera House, Egyptian Pyramids, Grand Canyon, Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty.
Determining where each Wonder of the World will go on the Corn Palace was discussed.
The two murals along the front of the Corn Palace will feature the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sydney Opera House. The Christ Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is constructed atop a mountain piercing toward the ocean. The Sydney Opera House, located in Australia, is known for its unique architectural design.
Board member Jory Hansen suggested the Statue of Liberty be placed on the large mural — where the Bob Barker mural is located now — along the south of the building.
"They will be able to do that pretty well with the mix of red and brown corn we have," Greenway said.
France's Eiffel Tower is slated to be placed on the mural neighboring the Statue of Liberty mural on the south side of the building.
The smaller murals along the south side of the Corn Palace will feature the Egyptian Pyramids, Grand Canyon, Taj Mahal, Rome Colosseum and Great Wall of China.
