For 31 years the Dome has been a staple location for events of many sizes ranging from sports to music to commerce. 31 years of validation for the decision.
Now, like the rest of the greater Fargo area, there is an initiative do some updating and adding to the facility.
Two weeks from today the votes will be tallied and if at least 60% of the population approves then the proposal will go through. To fund it, a 20-year tax increase on sales (.25%) and lodging (3%) would go into effect.
An online straw-poll found that the taxes are the biggest hang-up for people. That didn't come as a big surprise, only politicians like taxes, but that formulation is a sensible way to go about accomplishing the goal.
To put it simply, December 5th is the biggest day in the buildings history and there won't be a more consequential day for events in Fargo over the next 20 years and probably well beyond that.
At 50 years old, the Dome may still be functional for the community even if the population growth continues at the rate it's gone since opening day. But even with the shrewd method conceived to fund it the whole thing smacks of small time thinking.
Fargo/Moorhead/West Fargo, Cass & Clay Counties, the Red River Valley & the whole of North Dakota deserve more than the veneer of a convention center that will only include a few fixes to the problems of the facility.
For nearly the same cost today as it would be to build the whole Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, it's not good enough. I will grant to you that the PC is a smaller venue with a maximum of 13,000 people for concerts but to me it still shows that the Dome makeover lacks vision to make the future all that it could be. To build something new, bigger & better wouldn't be achieved for anywhere close to the same amount of money but for Dome 2.0 to happen in the lifetime of so many who call Fargo home, the vote will have to go against it.
We are fortunate to be able to contribute to the decision but as you do, just consider whether it is what you want for Fargo 15, 20, 25 and more years from now.
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