Box Elder, South Dakota, doesn’t have a Main Street or downtown, but they do have an expanding community of civilians and military personnel stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base. To meet the demands of steady population growth, Box Elder embarked on a transformation with the development of 110 acres which will soon be Liberty Center and Liberty Center Plaza. The Liberty Center is a community partnership between the Ellsworth Air Force Base (EAFB) and the City of Box Elder, providing an improved quality of life for EAFB families and the community. Scheduled for completion in 2022, this collaboration creates a 58,000 SF wellness facility that allows locals, military personnel, and their families access to year-round fitness activities.
Phase I of the Liberty Center includes a multi-use fieldhouse, flexible studio/classroom space, a child watch area, a 1/8th-mile track with turf, two basketball courts, workout equipment, group fitness rooms, and locker rooms. JLG also ensured Liberty Center was designed for future phases to expand the wellness center, incorporate urgent care facilities, and eventually provide an aquatics center. The facility will be operated by the YMCA with the EAFB and SD ARNG utilizing the facility as needed for fitness, testing, training, and special events. The Liberty Center will become a community anchor of the new Main Street, and a gathering destination in the Plaza surrounded by hotels, retail, healthcare, and hundreds of homes.
