Winter sports in the Black Hills usually means skiing, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. But next winter, professional hockey is coming to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City.

A new multi-use arena is under construction right now, and it should be done by December 1. That will be just in time for the Rapid City Rush, the new Central Hockey League team to take to the ice on its new home ice.

The new arena will seat 5,100 people for hockey games, 5,700 for basketball and 7,200 for concerts. In addition, skyboxes for corporations and other groups have been built into the design.

When the work is complete, the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center will be the region’s only two-arena facility in the Midwest, civic center officials say. And that offers huge potential for attracting much larger events, said Matt Reed, sports and events manager for the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“When event organizers are trying to decide whether to bring their organization to Rapid City or somewhere else, the Event Center will make it a lot easier for them to choose Rapid City,” Reed said. “The Event Center will let officials, players and families keep their activities under one roof.”