Cultural Heritage Center Renovation Update

Most Recent Draft Gallery Design

What does a renovated Cultural Heritage Center look like? The Center built for the statehood centennial in 1989 was a project of enduring value and served the state well for 35 years. A newly renovated center has improved facilities for visitors and staff. The first thing a visitor will notice is the well-lit and spacious lobby, improved amenities, a new education center, and a research facility to meet modern requirements. On the capacity side, behind the scenes is a storage facility that should provide space to collect for 20-30 years.

While the first phase is done and staff are back in their offices, the next phases of high-density shelving for future storage capacity and the fabrication and installation of the exhibit are in the works.

The reason we undertook the project at this time is for the more than 16,000 people from every state and 20 foreign countries who have visited and to be ready for the many more expected for the nations 250^th anniversary in 2026.

Since 1862, the Society has collected the South Dakota experience. Its rich collections are the most complete reference to stories and conditions in what is now the state. The renovation will keep us collecting at the pace South Dakotans have come to expect. 

• - The first performed was maintenance and repair work on the building, including roof, HVAC, lobby, and more.
• - The second main area is creating more storage capacity to add an additional twenty to thirty years to the building's storage life.
• - The last remaining goal will be to update the permanent exhibits of our museum with support from the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation.

• - Collections moved offsite
• - History on the Road placed museum artifacts in Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Pierre, and Yankton
• - First phase of the project is nearly 100 percent complete as staff are back in their permanent offices 
• - Project is on time and on budget 
• - Physical infrastructure completed except for high-density storage and state history exhibit.
• - The storage annex is complete and awaiting equipment. 
• - The structure of the new education space can be seen from Governors Drive

The expected timeline to reopen to the public is as follows:

-The museum collection will soon return to the building. 

-The Heritage Store inside of the Cultural Heritage Center will reopen. 

-Archives research room will reopen to the public after the full collection is returned back to the building as early as June of 2025.

-The museum exhibit gallery will reopen to the public in July of 2026. 

Those interested in supporting the project by partnering with the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation, please contact Catherine Forsch at 605-773-6003 or online.

To contact us, consult office and staff directories.

Those interested in bidding on the project, please contact the South Dakota State Engineer.