STAR buildings to be imploded

Here’s something you don’t see very often. Going up for auction soon will be chances to push one of three buttons setting off explosions that will bring down the old hospital building and its two wings that were at the heart of the former STAR Academy. Beecher Rock LLC, the company that bought the property south of Custer on Hwy. 385 from the state Office of School and Public Lands at auction a year ago, has decided to implode the original south facing tuberculosis hospital and the two wings attached in the next several weeks.
Mark Nielsen of Nielsen Enterprises, one of the partners in the corporation, said it is cost prohibitive to renovate the old concrete buildings.
“There’s just no user-friendly way of making that work,” said Nielsen, so he said the structures will be imploded in the next few weeks. “Should be fairly impressive!”
Nielsen said a federally licensed explosives expert has been hired to facilitate the demolition, although he declined to identify the contractor.
Coining the term “implosionist,” Nielsen said the specialized contractor will place explosive charges at structural points within each building. When the charges are detonated, the building will implode on itself. He said the detonation will be set off through the use of a button located a safe distance away and for safety reasons each section of the building will be imploded on a different day.
Those three button pushes are what will be auctioned off for charity in the coming days. Nielsen said Ron Bradeen of Bradeen Auction Service of Custer will be auctioning off the opportunities to set off the charges with the proceeds going to Custer County Search and Rescue, Black Hills Realtors for Kids and Meals on Wheels. Nielsen said with the recent announcement of the closing of Custer’s nursing home the group felt it important to support Meals on Wheels because it serves the elderly.
“Every single penny is going to a non-profit,” said Nielsen, explaining that Bradeen is donating his time and resources as well for the online auction which will be carried out on HiBid.
Nielsen would not disclose the dates of the implosions “just because there’s so much that can go wrong.” He said once the auction is complete the winning bidders will be notified by email when their detonations will take place.  
Without giving out the specific dates of the demolitions, Nielsen said he hopes to have all three sections of the structure on the ground by mid-March. He said he hopes to recycle the building materials and have the rubble cleared away as quickly as possible. There are no plans at this time for an alternative use of the building footprint. Other aging structures at the facility, such as the old brick power plant along the highway, will be demolished at a later date.
Nielsen said those interested in bidding on an opportunity to push the detonation button should keep an eye on the Bradeen Auction site to learn how to register to bid and when the auction will take place.
The century-old STAR Academy site began its life as Sanitor, a tuberculosis hospital authorized by the state legislature in 1909 and completed in 1911. When the sanitarium ceased operations in 1963, the facilities were remodeled and reopened as a state hospital and school for students with developmental disabilities. After the closure of that operation in 1996 the facility was repurposed again and transformed into STAR Academy, a juvenile correctional facility. The academy was closed by then Gov. Dennis Daugaard in 2016 as part of his criminal justice reform program.
After previous failed attempts to auction off the property, the Office of School and Public Lands finally sold it at auction to Mark and Kim Nielsen and Paul and Haylee Vershure at a price of $1,325,000 in February of 2021. The group is recouping its investment by developing the approximately 100 undeveloped acres of property east of the STAR Academy campus into a housing development called Star Valley Estates.