$2 million donation could bring ice skating, new playground downtown

Ice skating downtown just took a huge step forward thanks to a $2 million donation.

Sioux Falls business owners Garry and Dianne Jacobson are pledging to donate $2 million toward an ice ribbon at Falls Park West, along with an all-inclusive playground.

“We really think it’s a special day for our parks system but also just a special day for Sioux Falls,” said Don Kearney, the city’s director of parks and recreation.

“The thing Garry mentioned to me is that Sioux Falls has been really good to their family and their business, and he just wants to be able to give back.”

The city has “kicked around these ideas for a few years now, and the downtown 2025 plan has always talked about having downtown ice and creating a year-round downtown, and we also had interest in doing an all-inclusive playground and were always looking for the right opportunity,” Kearney said.

Unlike a traditional ice rink, ice ribbons are growing in popularity nationwide and offer a path-like route around a park or development where all skaters move in the same direction.

This would be refrigerated ice, which creates “a reliable, skateable ice that extends the season and creates a more festive atmosphere downtown,” Kearney said.

The donation also includes funding for an all-inclusive playground, which is designed to be accessible to kids of all abilities.

“So children and people of all abilities have the ability to play on the playground together without limitation,” Kearney said. “This is more about the senses, including those who are hearing impaired or somebody that is limited in sight.”

Both projects are still conceptual and haven’t been designed yet.

The donation is intended to be part of a public-private partnership that would be matched by $2 million from the city.

It would rename the area the Jacobson Plaza at Falls Park.

The new additions would sit to the north of Levitt Shell.

Much like the Levitt, it “will raise the bar” for the park and for Sioux Falls and draw people from across the region, Kearney said.

“We think this is another great example of a public-private partnership and another example of the generosity of a Sioux Falls family that has served as a catalyst to move this forward.”

Mayor Paul TenHaken’s administration intends to include the request as part of its upcoming “Sioux Falls for All” funding package, which is tied to pandemic relief-related funds passed through from the state.

The Sioux Falls City Council is expected to consider the funding starting later this month.

If approved, design for the new additions at Falls Park West would be done this year, with construction next year. That would allow the ice ribbon to be open for the 2022 holiday season.

The Jacobsons have owned Sioux Falls-based Malloy since 1971. Malloy is a leading company in the electrical and power transmission industry, with facilities capable of rebuilding the largest sizes of electric motors and industrial equipment.

The couple also are partners in several downtown properties and developments, including Washington Square.

The agreement is to do the initial funding for $2 million in construction and also to create a fund within the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation that is available to replace anything that becomes obsolete and can’t be repaired as well as to expand what is going to be designed and built initially.

The new plaza brings tears to the Jacobsons’ eyes, their daughter Robin Houwman said, and a continuation of their lifelong commitment to give back.

“I think they feel it’s their capstone, and they really want to provide an opportunity for our community to come together,” she said.