This month, we wrap up Blueprint South Dakota’s spotlight on the entries from the 2025 Design Awards competition. AIA South Dakota members again proved their creativity and problem-solving skills with beautifully functional work, on display in communities across South Dakota and beyond. Each installment in this series introduces readers to a different project, in the design team’s own words. As part of every entry form, AIA SD asked submitters to provide a “long description” that addressed the design intent and its progression. We invited submitters to go beyond the stats to show the value the project added for their client or community. In turn, they detailed the problems the project solved, told how their process made the most of hidden opportunities, and described the ways the design supports the client or community through form and function.
Augustana University Midco Ice Arena
The basics
- Firm: JLG Architects
- Client: Augustana University
- Category: Large Project
- Location: Sioux Falls, S.D.
The story
When Midco Arena opened, it marked two historic milestones: the creation of the state’s first Division I Men’s Hockey program and the Vikings’ first-ever home hockey series on campus. Along with providing more intimate, equitable, and state-of-the-art sporting experiences, Midco Arena has become a welcoming gateway to campus and epicenter for athletic well-being, building a new Vikings tradition for Augustana and the community of Sioux Falls.
Designed to be a year-round community-driven hub, Midco Arena is right-sized and ready for growth, with multiuse space for athletics, academic, community, and campus events.
The facility designates space for 12 private suites, a public plaza, a center ice “Vikings Club” space, a Skol Shop team store, athletics administration, classrooms, strength and conditioning, sports medicine, customized and equitable locker rooms with ventilated stalls, a lounge space and fueling station, dining amenities, a puck shooting room, and hydrotherapy. Midco Arena additionally reserves space for track and field coaching offices, along with space for a future addition of lacrosse.
Midco Arena’s design was influenced by Augustana’s steadfast commitment to gender equity. Just like Men’s Hockey, programming for the facility includes a full team suite for the Women’s Soccer program, with dedicated coaching offices, team lounge space, and team locker space customized to program needs. Equitable access extends to its strength and conditioning areas, sports medicine, hydrotherapy, and onsite equipment and laundry services.
A collegiate field house design reminiscent of generations past inspired the development of Midco Arena’s identity. Contributing to its authenticity is masonry that relates back to campus architecture, along with a celebration of daylit opportunities and a distinctive barrel-vaulted form. With its open concourse design and an extroverted presence, fans step into an energized Arena and full ice immersion.
More projects in the series
Click to view a video of all 22 entries in the 2025 AIA South Dakota Design Awards.
