SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Sioux Falls community members can expect a new indoor recreation facility and pool upgrades in the coming years. Tuesday night’s city council meeting passed the $68 million aquatics bond 8-0 after being discussed over the past four years.
Now design plans are the next step to give Kuehn Park and Frank Olson Park in Sioux Falls a facelift.
“Both of these swimming pools that we’re talking about rehabbing are reaching the end of their lifespan to over 50 years. Well, that’s time to do something different with them which gives us the opportunity to make one of them an indoor pool which is going to be a Frank Olson,” Soehl said.
Sioux Falls city council member, Curt Soehl says a lot of discussion went into planning the indoor recreation center at Frank Olson Park.
“We’ve re-engineered that thing about 18 different times to get it to this point. We’re happy we’re here now. Although the work’s not done. The design work still has to be done,” Soehl said. “The Council still has to approve the plan for the recreation center. But we are moving forward, which is very satisfying.”
Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation director, Don Kearney, says you won’t see construction in 2025.
“Kuehn Park is going to likely be on an earlier time frame because it’s about six months less of design time. So in the spring of 2026, we anticipate Kuehn Park being under construction and in the case of Frank Olson, likely late summer of 2026,” Kearney said.
Kearney says Frank Olson Park is one of the lower-attended city parks. He hopes the indoor facility will bring more people to the area, especially in the winter months.
“We expect hundreds of thousands of people will use it. Obviously because of the 12 months of use that people will be able to have,” Kearney said.
A breakdown of the $68 million bond includes $18 million will be used to construct an outdoor pool at Kuehn Park, $47 million to construct an indoor recreation and aquatics facility at Frank Olson Park, and $3 million to complete Day 2 improvements at Westside Rec Center.
One other aquatic space being discussed is the future of a southside pool, which will be pushed to the city’s Capital Program plan. This is a plan that details the goals for the city within the next five years.
