An effort to build a new outdoor pool in far south Sioux Falls is gaining momentum regardless of improvements included in a $77 million water bond.
The need for a completely new pool somewhere south of at least 49th Street emerged during early public input sessions on the city’s aquatics plan.
It’s something Councilman David Barranco, who represents the Southeast District, says he’s heard often since taking office two years ago.
There was talk of trying to include a new outdoor pool (the first since Laurel Oak about 30 years ago) in the bond, but that apparently wasn’t going to happen.
It also became clear during Parks and Recreation presentations on the bond, which includes replacing the Kuehn Park pool and building an indoor center at Frank Olson, that a new pool could be built within about ten years.
This did not sit well with several members of the City Council.
Barranco said Monday that council members are working on a resolution to create a committee that would study possible locations for a neighborhood pool somewhere on the city’s south end.
Barranco told me they are thinking of a neighborhood-style pool rather than larger aquatic centers like the one planned for Kuehn Park.
They want it to be in a residential area, within walking distance for working families, close to the bike path and on a fixed bus route. He sees plenty of shade and picnic tables on the site for families and seniors.
The committee would consist of two council members, a Parks Board member and three representatives from Mayor Paul TenHaken’s administration. They would be tasked with exploring location options with the goal of publishing results before Christmas and opening no later than summer 2029.
Plans for a resolution supporting the initiative will likely be discussed at a press conference at 11:30 this morning at City Hall. You can watch the conference live on the City of Sioux Falls Facebook page.
Did you say stuffed animals…?
Contributed by the Great Plains Zoo
Swimming pools are not the only topic likely to come up during the briefing.
Councillors often come with issues they want to discuss, but journalists in the room – I’ll be there – often wander off to other matters.
It’s like a real press conference and everything, which is welcome.
Another hot topic is the future of the Delbridge taxidermy collection.
I won’t try to summarize the situation. Either you know it or you can read it here.
But the task force charged with trying to resolve it met last week.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there, but I read the report, which basically says that most of the dead animals are in good condition and ready to face the future.
Of course, that future is uncertain.
The collection could be sold, donated, put into storage somewhere or displayed in some new, yet-to-be-imagined location in Sioux Falls.
Everything’s fine.
Except when it’s not right…
Sioux Falls police have been emphasizing the dangers of speeding and reckless driving for… quite some time.
On any given summer afternoon in the posh southeastern suburbs of America’s Best Small Town, the crescendoing hum of what we used to call “crotch rocket” motorcycles pierces the suburban bliss, interrupted only by the unrestrained rumble of American V-Twins.
Noise is just noise and it’s really not that bad at Lalley Estate.
It’s much worse downtown when a cyclone decides it wants everyone to know they can press the clutch and the accelerator at the same time. It’s like walking and chewing gum. I’m not impressed.
Then someone dies and you remember that noise, while not one-to-one, does represent speed.
Another young man died on Saturday because he was speeding on his motorcycle on 57th Street.
Which is a tragedy for his friends and family. In the end, he made a bad decision.
The problem is that she also crashed into someone’s car who didn’t do it. That person was just driving and now she has to live with the image of a human being dying in front of her.
And then there’s the guy who police say was looking at his phone while driving on North Cliff Avenue shortly after midnight Sunday when he struck two people who had stopped to fix a tow rope.
They are dead.
He is in jail.
On Friday, another man, for reasons unknown, drove down East 26th Street before crashing into a light pole and then a tree.
He died, but fortunately no one else did.
There is no common theme here, just too many people dying for reasons that are completely preventable.
I don’t need to tell you those reasons.
And now for something completely different…
The Four Winds Music and Arts Festival is taking place this weekend at several downtown venues.
The scope of the event is difficult to understand.
There will be 75 musical acts taking place at Icon, Dada, Full Circle, Club David and Icon on Friday and Saturday. There is all kinds of music from all over the region.
Headliners are The Faint, Prof, He is Legend, Earth Groans and Rifflord.
I’m not going to pretend that I have more than a passing familiarity with any of them.
But the long, long list also includes names I know better, like Kickback, The Clover Fold, 12 ½ Charlies, Billy Yost, Humbletown and Micah Kittleson.
Beyond that, I’m lost and clearly not doing it justice.
A complete list and ticket information can be found on the event website.
I plan to miss less when I interview Four Winds regional organizer and promoter Corey Church on Wednesday.
Hopefully there will be an update, probably via video, later this week.
