Cabela’s shopping for city-owned land

By Dan Daly, Journal staff | Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

RAPID CITY -- Nobody is saying anything publicly, but Rapid City Mayor Jim Shaw and other city officials are reported to be in serious talks with retail giant Cabela’s to use city-owned property for a new Cabela’s-anchored retail center at Interstate 90 and Elk Vale Road.

However, the 30-acre site is already occupied -- by the Black Hills Visitor Information Center. It’s unclear whether the building, constructed only nine years ago with $2.8 million in city 2012 funds, would have to be torn down to make way for the Cabela’s project.

Contacted Tuesday, Shaw said he can’t comment because he signed a confidentiality agreement with Cabela’s and Foursquare Properties.

Foursquare, based in Carlsbad, Calif., has been laying plans in recent months for a shopping center complex along I-90 somewhere between exits 60 and 61. It’s been widely believed that its project would be anchored by a Cabela’s. Another Foursquare development, in Post Falls, Idaho, has a 125,000-square-foot Cabela’s showroom and retail store.

Shaw’s no-comment Tuesday was the first public acknowledgement that Cabela’s was definitely partnering with Foursquare in Rapid City. “I signed a confidentiality agreement for any negotiations that we’re undertaking with this developer,” Shaw said Tuesday.

However, Shaw made no secret that he would love to see Cabela’s set up shop here. “Cabela’s, I think, would be a tremendous economic development coup for Rapid City,” Shaw said. “There’s no question it would be a premier kind of development that we would welcome in Rapid City.”

For years, Cabela’s was primarily a catalog seller of hunting, fishing and outdoor supplies. Its Sydney, Neb., retail store developed into a tourist destination with elaborate and realistic wildlife displays, taxidermy, fish tanks and other sights -- surrounded by retail space.

About a decade ago, Cabela’s took its retail concept on the road. The company began building giant superstores in markets outside Nebraska. Today, the company has 18 retail locations, including a popular store in Mitchell. Another dozen are in development.

Cabela’s stores in Michigan and Utah are reported to be those states’ most-visited tourist attractions.

I-90’s Exit 61, meanwhile, has become an increasingly high-profile intersection. That’s because the new four-lane Southeast Connector meets I-90 at Exit 61. To the chagrin of some downtown businesses, westbound tourists are taking the Southeast Connector to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and other Southern Hills attractions.

In fact, the Southeast Connector was the reason that the Black Hills Visitor Information Center was built at that intersection. The Black Hills, Badlands & Lakes Association, the West River tourism group, operates the center.

Bill Honerkamp, association president, confirmed that he had met Friday with Shaw and City Council president Tom Johnson. However, he said he can’t say what was discussed.

Some people familiar with the talks say that Cabela’s would offer space for a visitor center inside or near its retail store.

If indeed the building is torn down for the Cabela’s project, Shaw will have to make the case to the city council and to voters that the new retail center and tourist destination project would be worth more than the $2.8 million the city spent to build the visitor center.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com