Gov. Dennis Daugaard and officials from the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department have dedicated the new Custer State Park visitor center.
Officials held a ribbon cutting on Friday before opening the facility to the public.
The center features a large interactive map, 20-foot-tall scale models of the Cathedral Spires and educational displays about the park's iconic buffalo.
Daugaard says the visitor center and theater would not exist without the generosity of a dozen private donors. He specifically mentioned the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the James and Eloise Elmen Foundation and the Lloyd and Beverly (Gerhardson) Paulson Family for donations of $1 million each.
The Custer State Park Visitor Center is in the park at the junction of Wildlife Loop Road and Highway 16.
Officials held a ribbon cutting on Friday before opening the facility to the public.
The center features a large interactive map, 20-foot-tall scale models of the Cathedral Spires and educational displays about the park's iconic buffalo.
Daugaard says the visitor center and theater would not exist without the generosity of a dozen private donors. He specifically mentioned the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the James and Eloise Elmen Foundation and the Lloyd and Beverly (Gerhardson) Paulson Family for donations of $1 million each.
The Custer State Park Visitor Center is in the park at the junction of Wildlife Loop Road and Highway 16.