Demolition on Minnesota Ave. reveals Sioux Falls history

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A pair of excavators were sinking the teeth of their buckets into a set of buildings along Minnesota Avenue between 18th and 19th streets in Sioux Falls on Monday morning.

This is all in preparation for redevelopment of the entire block, by Tre Ministries, which is overseeing the project that will include multi-unit housing along Dakota Avenue and a mixed-use development along Minnesota Avenue.

KELOLAND spoke briefly with Tre Ministries CEO Sandy Berven on Monday, who told us that the demolition is expected to be complete in the next couple of weeks.

Berven recognized that the demolition of the buildings is a sad sight, but says the goal is to make it into something beautiful. She noted there was some interest in moving the buildings to a new location, but the cost and complications of moving such an old brick building proved too high.

Despite this, she did say there were people interested in preserving some pieces of the building, which KELOLAND saw in action as a pair worked to remove an arched window as demolition was taking place.

As the demolition took place, history itself was being revealed, with the façade of 418 W 19th Street being removed to reveal two signs. One labeled Trading Post, and the other appearing to belong to the Sioux Falls location of the Council Oak grocery store.

According to report on the history of grocery stores in Sioux Falls published by the City and complied by Richard Jensen in 2022, Council Oak had a presence in Sioux Falls prior to the 1950s. In the records found by Jensen, another grocery store stood at the address of 418 W 19th in the 1940s, this being O.P. Skaggs System, which eventually merged with Safeway.

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