Drivers on South Fifth Street and Bowen Avenue could see digital message boards and building-wide sponsor names on the Bismarck Event Center under a master sign plan from Oak View Group, the company that runs the city-owned venue. The plan went back before Bismarck's Renaissance Zone Authority on Thursday, Nov. 12, according to the authority's agenda packet. The authority's decision had not been posted as of Friday, Nov. 13.
In the staff report for that meeting, city planning staff recommended approval, on the condition that substantive revisions come back for design review.
The Details
- Where: 315 S. Fifth St., the Event Center site at Bowen Avenue and Seventh Street, next to Kirkwood Mall to the south, per the staff report.
- Digital signs: The draft plan would allow one freestanding "signature" sign on each of South Fifth and South Seventh streets, and those signs could include electronic message centers. Electronic message centers are currently prohibited in Bismarck's downtown zoning district, the staff report says.
- Rules for the screens: Messages could change no more than once every 5 seconds, and the signs could run 24 hours a day, according to the draft. Content would be limited to Event Center events, ads for the building's corporate partners, sponsors and advertisers, and community events or public service announcements.
- Sizes: A sign exhibit in the packet shows a 125-by-25-foot "building name" sign at the main entrance at Fifth and Bowen, a 95-by-25-foot space on Seventh Street labeled "likely naming rights," and a 35-by-45-foot naming-rights spot at the Expo Hall entrance. It also shows a replacement Fifth Street marquee and banners on parking-lot light poles and fences.
- On the roof: A sign could be painted flat on the roof, as long as it does not stick up from the surface, the draft says.
The Backstory
The authority first took up the plan on Oct. 8 and continued it. Members said they were concerned that the amount and placement of digital and static signs was too great for a plan that was still conceptual, according to the meeting minutes in the packet. Members agreed to support more sign area than usual but asked for exact dimensions and the type and purpose of each sign. They also asked that the tri-sided monument art display at the entrance doors remain.
Oak View Group representatives told the authority that sponsors pay for installing, powering and maintaining the signs, and that revenue goes back to the Event Center, according to the minutes.
The Event Center Authority Board heard the proposal Oct. 19, when it was described as supporting future naming rights and wayfinding. Board members and city staff noted concerns about setting precedents for variances on a city-owned building, but members generally supported the effort, according to the minutes.
What It Means for Bismarck
The plan would rework sign standards for the Event Center's three parcels. City planner Isak Johnson told the Event Center board that the proposal's review process includes the Planning and Zoning Commission, along with a new overlay district for the site, according to the board's minutes. The staff report says that overlay, similar to a planned unit development, would adjust zoning standards so some form of the plan could be allowed. Individual signs would still need city sign permits unless the code exempts them.
Before You Go
- Agendas for upcoming Planning and Zoning Commission and City Commission meetings are posted on the city's CivicClerk portal. The Planning and Zoning agenda for Nov. 18 had not been posted as of Friday.
Sources: Bismarck Renaissance Zone Authority agenda packet, Nov. 12, 2026; Bismarck Event Center Authority Board agenda packet, Nov. 16, 2026, with Oct. 19 minutes