Improved Tomar Park brings more upgrades, national tennis honor

It has been a season of finishing touches at Tomar Park that’s ending with national recognition for its new 12-court tennis facility.

The GreatLIFE Cares Foundation Tennis Complex at Tomar Park will receive an Outstanding Facility Award today in New York at the United States Tennis Association national headquarters.

It caps a year of improvements for the park, which this year expanded its parking lot and added a shelter and basketball court.

“We also replaced the playground and purchased bleachers in the interim to help finish off the tennis complex and neighborhood park area. All the work is complete except the main connection for the irrigation,” park development specialist Tory Miedema said. “We are waiting for the hot weather to pass and then will seed and fire up the irrigation.”

The city talked with the Sioux Falls Tennis Association about the complex for years and struggled to settle on the ideal location, Miedema said.

When some of the soccer leagues moved to different fields, that created “less of a load” for Tomar Park and construction began, he said.

Phase 2 for Tomar Park

Recent flooding in the Rose-Lotta neighborhood has impacted the neighborhood, Miedema said. A program is available for homeowners affected by flooding to sell their homes voluntarily and move to a drier location within the next 10 years. The purchased properties eventually will become part of an expansion plan for Tomar Park. Additionally, the future reconstruction of the Interstate 229 interchange at Minnesota Avenue also will have an impact on the park and its surroundings.

Miedema said the second phase of construction will include improvements to expand the parking lot to ease on-street parking congestion in the neighborhood, add flex fields to address the shortage of practice spaces in the community and make enhancements to the storm sewer and entrance roads.

According to the Tomar Park master plan, the city doesn’t have funds budgeted for the Phase 2 improvements. “The time frame will be dependent on the success of the voluntary home buyout program as park improvements would not happen until large tracts with no impediments were owned and available for redevelopment.”

“We updated the master plan for the park and talked to the neighborhood,” Miedema said. “We talked to the tennis association and put all the plans together. The neighborhood was overwhelmingly positive about the new improvements.”

Fit for tennis

Each year, the USTA acknowledges facilities across the nation with the aim of promoting higher standards for construction and renovation.

Lydia Healy, executive director of the Sioux Falls Tennis Association, submitted the GreatLIFE Cares Foundation Tennis Complex to the USTA for evaluation. 

The complex uses high-quality materials, Miedema said. That includes Musco sports lighting tied into the controlling system, post-tension concrete tennis courts and plenty of shade.

“I have a passion for tennis and the community,” Healy said. “I wanted to grow the game but knew we needed a larger facility to host the larger tournaments.”

Healy said the South Dakota Open has been “very successful with our new sponsors.” To attract top semipro players, Sioux Falls needed at least 12 courts in one location, she said.

“We have applied to host an ATP tour in 2024-2025.”

When Healy wanted to the build the complex, she said one of the first people she asked to support her endeavors was GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness chairman Tom Walsh.

“He was so receptive and has been so giving to the community. I knew immediately he would be a great partner for this project,” Healy said.

This has been the first summer of play at the new tennis complex. “It really is a beautiful facility,” Healy said.

The shade structures and multiple water fountains make great additions, she added.

To receive national recognition, the complex had to meet criteria regarding the facility and the programs offered, while making “an important contribution to the game of tennis.”

“Lydia wanted it to be a first-class facility,” Miedema said. “We were blown away when we heard about the award. … The tennis association has been great to work with.”

The tennis association is working to get five scoreboards and a livestream for the upcoming ATP event, Healy said.

“We are lacking a tennis shack to store our supplies for lessons and leagues, and that is our current fundraising project,” she said.

The Sioux Falls Tennis Association partners with the city’s Parks & Recreation Department to offer adult leagues, adult and youth tournaments and youth lessons each summer at affordable prices, Healy said.

“We’re working toward replacing all of the neighborhood park amenities that were taken out to make room for the tennis complex,” Miedema said, adding there is still a need to address parking and flooding issues.