“Nice gym, have you seen our PALACE?”
It’s a phrase I’ve seen on countless t-shirts over the years, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. For as long as I can remember, Mitchell’s Corn Palace has been the famed home of our Mitchell Kernel Basketball teams. Championship banners hang proudly at both ends of the court, and loyal fans flood the stands in a sea of home-team colors, instinctively claiming the same seats year after year.
As I make my way from the stage to “My Seat,” I know exactly who I’ll greet along the way — shaking hands with Schmidt and then Mary Ann Lulewicz as I make my way. Or, if I switch things up and take the opposite side, I’ll undoubtedly catch up on the latest news from my buddy, Don McLean. And I know which seat has been worn out solely due to Dale Thomas’s passion for the game.
I’m not exactly sure when we started playing our basketball games at the Corn Palace, but it feels like it’s been forever. Lately, there’s been a lot of buzz about the future of our Kernel games there. After a few recent comments, many are wondering: Will the Kernels continue playing basketball at the Palace, or will the new high school gym become their home court?
It’s necessary to begin by taking a step back to give credit where credit is due. So, here is thanks to the efforts of the Vote YES for Kids Committee, which recently received the Community Service Award at a South Dakota convention in Sioux Falls. Largely due to the efforts of this group, our district will soon have brand-new athletic facilities. These accommodations will meet the high standards expected of a AA high school, offering plenty of seating and ample gym space for a comfortable experience for all students and spectators.
I believe we can all agree that there’s a certain nostalgia that comes with playing in the Corn Palace. For generations, the Palace has been more than just a venue; it’s been the heartbeat of our community, where memories are made, and traditions are upheld. The thought of leaving behind the echoes of past victories, the familiar feel of the court, and the collective energy of fans who have cheered from the same seats for decades would make leaving the Palace sad for everyone who’s ever called it home.
However, playing at the Corn Palace comes with a cost, and I mostly agree that it should. The Mitchell School District pays rent for the facility, which last year amounted to $450 per basketball game and $650 for double-headers. On top of that, the Corn Palace collects 5% of our gate fees. For the 2023-24 basketball season, the rent and gate fees paid to the Corn Palace, for just basketball, totaled more than $8,000. But that’s not the full cost of using the Palace, and these expenses complicate the decision between staying at the Palace or moving to the new high school.
In the past, many of our basketball practices have been scheduled at the Corn Palace to maximize our “home court advantage” and because our current gym isn’t conducive for such. Coordinating these practices is a challenge. Teams work around Dakota Wesleyan’s schedule, as the Tigers also aim to capitalize on practicing at the Palace too. Additionally, our high school teams—both varsity and sub-varsity—need practice space, and ideally, they would prefer all their teams to practice in the same location, if not the same gym. This becomes tricky when gym space is limited, especially when other programs also need the armory.
As well, there is a cost associated with having your home facility off school grounds. For example, our athletes must leave school immediately, drive to the Palace, and only then can they get on the court. You might think, “That’s not a cost,” and although you’re not entirely wrong, it does come with a price. There is value in having your athletes all under the same roof. It’s magnetic to see the interactions between boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, show choir students, the powerlifting team, the band, the gymnasts, and our wrestling team all utilizing the high school facilities.
Moving our students out of the building to another location diminishes these interactions. Think about the times we have a home basketball game, and our students either forget about it and head home or don’t feel like driving to the Palace after their own practice finishes. If we were in our own facility, our kids might just hang around and watch the event, knowing they don’t have to go anywhere—they simply take it in before leaving school.
Then there’s the issue of concession stands—something I’m glad I don’t have to manage, but a revenue source we miss out on by holding our games at the Palace. The new high school facility will be equipped to handle concessions, which is essential for events like wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics. It is also possible that we would lose out on advertising opportunities by continuing to compete at the Palace.
All of this brings us back to the main question: Will the Kernels continue to play at the Corn Palace, or will we move to the new gym? The truth is, no official nor unofficial decision has been made. In fact, there hasn’t even been a formal discussion weighing the pros and cons. What I can tell you is that the final decision will come down to one thing — what is best for our kids.
