The Foundation for Future Glory
Mike Fisher, P.E., Electrical Engineer, Office Manager
Dakota State University is elevating its game—literally and figuratively—with a major expansion of its athletic footprint, designed to help the university stand out in a highly competitive collegiate landscape. The new facilities strengthen DSU’s ability to recruit and retain student-athletes while supporting academics, community events, and year‑round training.
At the center of the upgrades is the Beacom PREMIER Complex, a 54,000‑square‑foot hub featuring the Dan Beacom Track & Field and Blankley Field at Brian Kern Family Stadium. The stadium now offers an 1,800‑seat grandstand, new concessions, a team store, and a full‑size synthetic turf football field. It also introduces one of the nation’s most advanced collegiate esports environments—giving DSU a regional edge with dedicated practice, training, and competition setups built to support teamwork and strategy.
Next door, the Dan Beacom Track Complex delivers DSU’s first new athletics facility in more than six decades. The site includes a full-sized synthetic turf soccer field framed by a new eight‑lane, 400‑meter Trojan‑blue track, along with updated field event spaces for shot put, discus, and javelin. Modern lighting, digital displays, improved seating, and a new press box bring the experience up to NCAA‑level standards.
The Athletic Events Center ties the complex together with upgraded locker rooms, strength and conditioning facilities, sports medicine areas, offices, hospitality suites, meeting rooms, and flexible academic space—including a biomechanics lab and classrooms that support DSU’s growing programs in human performance and aging.
West Plains Engineering played a key role in bringing the vision to life, providing mechanical and electrical design for the major buildings and competition areas. Our scope included NCAA‑compliant lighting for the football, track, and soccer fields; power and networking for scoreboards; integration of new infrastructure for a track timing and communications system; a fiber optic connection from the new complex back to the main campus; and full MEP design for the Athletics Event Center and two concessions buildings. The project also incorporates LEED principles to support long‑term energy efficiency and sustainability.
With this $38 million investment—the university’s most significant athletics project since 1960—DSU has created a modern, cohesive environment that strengthens Trojan Athletics, enriches academic programs, and enhances the fan experience.
Locker Room
Mechanical Room
Mike Fisher, P.E., Electrical Engineer & Office Manager, Sioux Falls
Mike Fisher, PE is an Electrical Engineer and Office Manager in Sioux Falls, SD. He has more than 37 years of engineering and project management experience, and was the project electrical engineer for the DSU Athletics Event Center.
