One of the most innovative new buildings in North America, Maroney Commons was conceived and built with 21^st Century design and construction techniques as a place for leaders from small towns to design and build 21^st Century rural communities.

As such, it’s the new home of a rich, vital movement among people from all corners of the United States and Canada bound by a common passion to rethink and rebuild their towns for a new generation of economic and cultural vitality. It also delivers the immediate communities of Howard and Miner County, South Dakota, a stunning new state-of-the-art facility for business meetings, retreats, wedding receptions, training, reunions and much more.

The Commons is a beautiful combination of architecture and landscaping that includes meeting and class room space, accommodations for visitors in the 24-room Windward Inn, innovative American fare in an intimate dining experience at the Forecast Restaurtant, and a fitness club for both the community and hotels guests.

Maroney Commons is also an example of environmental stewardship and sustainability that has defined so many generations of rural families. The building is certified “LEED Platinum,” the highest score in a nationally recognized rating system for environmental performance and energy efficiency. It features an eye-catching commercial-scale wind turbine and photovoltaic solar panels that feed electricity to the entire building. A separate thermal solar system heats water for the building, including guest rooms in the Windward Inn, and performs even in the cold of winter. It collects and channels rainwater and snowmelt for use inside the building lavatories. A geothermal system heats and cools the entire building (with support, if necessary, from natural gas heating system). The building also features a green roof with a garden of native prairie flowers and grasses planted in 30 inches of soil; this helps cool the building and mitigate rainwater run-off.

The facility was built on the site of the former Legion Hall and includes many “recycled” items from the old building. The Forecast Restaurant, for example, includes the Legion Hall’s dance floor and siding built from the siding of the old gymnasium.

The Commons began with a challenge: dare to think bigger, better and beyond for the future of rural America. Thanks to the hard work of the people of Miner County and the visionary collaboration of many partners throughout the community, Maroney Commons gives people from small towns the chance to act bigger, better and beyond.