Officials with the city of Rapid City, South Dakota, have approved funding for two new entertainment districts to be developed in the coming years.
Two Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, Libertyland USA and the Catalyst District, were both reapproved at a Rapid City Council meeting. Libertyland USA will be supported by a $125 million TIF, while the Catalyst District will receive $84 million in financing.
Libertyland USA will include a theme park, restaurants, retail shops, a western-themed resort hotel, an interactive living history attraction, a water park, a campground, residential district, with 400 homes, a conference center and event spaces. The development will be built on over 300 acres north of Rushmore Crossing. This major new tourism attraction seeks to open its first phases in 2026 to align with the nation’s 250th anniversary. The full build-out is planned through 2030.
Libertyland USA is expected to create over 2,000 jobs and generate large-scale infrastructure investment. Residents of the area will get free entry to the park. Local officials anticipate the theme park will boost tourism and extended-stay visitation in the Black Hills region.
The Catalyst District will fund the construction of a new sports complex. Previous plans had also included a school and recreational corridor upgrades, but both were dropped. City officials say youth sports are a resilient driver of tourism in the area, with 3.9 million visitors spending over $504 million in Rapid City in 2024.
Photo by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
