New visitor center at Custer State Park near completion

CUSTER, S.D. (AP) - A new visitor center at Custer State Park is almost ready to open its doors to the public.

Construction at the $6 million facility, which will feature a movie theater, a large touch-screen map and many other amenities, is nearly finished ahead of the planned May 21 opening, the Rapid City Journal (https://bit.ly/1pUv4lK ) reported. The new center is part of a $20 million effort to improve the facilities at South Dakota’s most popular state park.

Plans for the new visitor center date back at least three years, when the Legislature appropriated $1.5 million for the project. The park’s interpretive programs manager, Lydia Austin, said all that’s left to finish these days is landscaping work and some paint retouches.

The existing Peter Norbeck Visitor Center is a historic stone building located near the State Game Lodge in the park. The center has served the park since the 1930s, when the Civilian Conservation Corps built it. However, Austin said, the need for a larger facility has increased over the years as more visitors stop by the park.

Private donors have provided the bulk of the funding for the new 8,000-square-foot visitor center that was built at the intersection of Highway 16A and Wildlife Loop Road, that’s one mile east of the Norbeck center. Its exhibits will include information about bison, park geography and park activities.

The movie theater will screen films about the park throughout the day.

“I’ve seen it numerous times, and it still makes me want to go outside and explore Custer State Park,” Austin said.

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Information from: Rapid City Journal, https://www.rapidcityjournal.com