Corn Palace is a husk of its former self

Tina Sussman:

In the cornucopia of kitschy roadside attractions, few rival the Corn Palace, a monument to maize that rises from this prairie town’s main drag like a Hollywood prop tossed off the back of a big rig barreling down the interstate.

Its green-and-yellow onion domes and spires tower over Main Street, an otherwise unremarkable avenue of low-rise buildings. Golden husks and hundreds of thousands of colorful cobs — held in place by more than a ton of nails, wires and staples — blanket the exterior. Inside, the enticing aromas of popped corn, candied corn and raw ears of corn float down hallways lined with old photographs of the World’s Only Corn Palace, as it is described in fliers and on billboards.

But times and tastes have changed since the Corn Palace gained fame in 1892, and there is concern about dwindling visits to the attraction, which is key to the economy in this southeastern South Dakota town of 14,500. In a September editorial, the local newspaper, the Daily Republic, called for a “new incarnation” of the venue, which was built as a means of encouraging farmers to put down roots in the region.