Horse Racing, Sculpture Locations, Ghost Murals – All Topics at Fort Pierre Development Monthly Meeting!
By Sunny Hannum
Dave Bonde, Executive Director of Fort Pierre Development Corporation (FPDC) welcomed Shane Kramme to the organization’s August 25th Board Meeting. Kramme brought the board up to date on Fort Pierre Chamber activities and role in supporting community events. He said many events involve both the Fairgrounds and the Expo Center. He also manages the Expo Center which hosts Oahe Hockey in the winter. The Expo Center board is made up of representatives from the City of Pierre and Fort Pierre and the counties of Hughes and Stanley established in 2000.
Kramme explained that the Chamber had a Board of Trusties established in 1948 as the Verendrye Benevolent Association/Chamber: Joe Thorne is president, he is vice president, and Shawn Leafgreen is treasurer. Other board members are KC Hughes, Joel Catlin, and David Titze. The Chamber has 130 members that pay $50 a year membership which is the original fee that has never changed.
The Chamber received $10,000 from the City last year to which they added $5,000 and 100% was given to support community events. Fort Pierre Horse Racing was supposed to receive .5 million a year but has had to raise funds primarily from simulcast wagering taxes and state racing funds managed by the South Dakota Commission on Gaming. The South Dakota Commission on Gaming approved a series of resolutions to open the door to one day of horse racing this fall at the Stanley County Fairgrounds this fall. The South Dakota Legislature passed and the governor signed House Bill 1058 in February 2026 to support the state’s horse racing industry, which helps fund live racing in Fort Pierre.
HB 1058 authorizes the South Dakota Commission on Gaming to license and regulate online pari-mutuel betting providers. Created revenues from these online wagering platforms are directed to support and stabilize live horse racing, keeping the tradition alive in Fort Pierre—the last remaining site for live horse races in the state. Kramme who ranches locally spends a lot of time away from the ranch lobbying at South Dakota Legislature in February and March.
Kramme thinks the small tracks will rebound due to people’s need for entertainment. This is already happening in the states around South Dakota.
Reporting for the City of Fort Pierre at this month’s meeting was Assistant Public Works Director Jess Powell. Powell described street project completions like Waldron, Buffalo Road, and 9th Avenue. He also mentioned the work on the new hotel and Pizza Ranch renovation currently underway and said the City definitely needs more locations to build houses.
Dave Bonde and Officer Manager Sunny Hannum reported on the different FPDC Committees for Housing, Downtown, Education, and Business Development. A new board member will be added in September to replace Mike Peterson who resigned due to travel requirements. Hannum reported on statistics for the FPDC Facebook and Web Site that had respectfully had 123.5K views and 1.2K visitors in July with numbers remaining high in August. FPDC received a Fort Pierre Tourism beautification grant and a private donor to restore a ghost mural on the side of the Rowe Hardware still planned for this this fall.
Rob Coverdale, Stanley County Schools Superintendent reported on the new cell phone policy which is being conducted with a magnetic pouch program called YONDR which the school purchased for $5,000. He expects this new policy to help the mental health of students and also their academic performance due to less distraction from electronic devices. He said parents and students seem to be accepting the program surprisingly well this first week of school.
Our members have a standing invitation to attend FPDC board meetings which are always held the last Tuesday of the month at 11:30 a.m. at the Municipal League unless it is not available which was the case in July and August.