City details design for Frank Olson Park recreation center as council approves it

A new indoor recreation center at the east-side Frank Olson Park will move forward after narrow approval by the Sioux Falls City Council.

Councilors voted 5-3 in favor of the design, which followed previous approval of the plan conceptually as well as its funding.

The 75,000-square-foot building at the park, 4101 E. 16th St., will be centered around five key programming elements, said Mike Patten, park development manager.

An indoor playground will be a focal point with a 40-foot play structure that will utilize “the full height of the building, right in the middle,” he said. “When you walk in, it’ll be the first thing you see is a colorful play experience.”

The indoor play area, which will be free to use, was expanded as the design was finalized. It will include space for kids age 5 to 12 “that will be a little more challenging with lots of climbing and really active play, and then there will be another side more geared toward little kids with soft play features that’s more free play,” Patten said.

The indoor pool area will include a six-lane, 25-yard fitness pool with diving boards on one side.

“The other half is the lifestyle or activity and leisure pool, with zero-depth entry for kids, some play features and a big water slide that punches out of the building and spins around and comes back in,” Patten said.

Other programming areas include a large gymnasium with two full-size basketball courts that can subdivide into four to support pickleball and volleyball.

A two-lane walking and running track will be 10 feet wide, with about 10 laps representing 1 mile, “with views into the pool, into the gym and into the indoor play,” Patten said.

Seven percent of the building is planned as a health and wellness area with a variety of cardio and strength training equipment, as well as an exercise room for about 30 to 35 people in a class.

That’s the portion of the project that drew the most controversy among councilors, with several voicing opposition to a concept that could compete with the private sector.

“I’m not a big fan of the fitness component,” Councilor Richard Thomson said. “To me, an indoor rec space is more like a field house, some indoor turf, indoor basketball, a walking track, gathering area. .. There are so many options for fitness.”

In addition to responding to citizens’ requests for indoor recreation, the fitness space is needed to help generate revenue for the building, Councilor Ryan Spellerberg said.

“We are going to lose money on this facility consistently, but that’s planned for,” he said. “The fitness section of this is what makes this less of a loss leader for the city because we have to have that to get …  people to sign up and pay the memberships for it.”

In addition to free indoor play for the community, the building will offer free use of the gym and track during designated hours, as well as free indoor swimming during the summer to income-qualified kids.

Event space also will help generate revenue.

Space attached to the pool area can be reserved by the community, including for events such as birthday parties.

“We have lots of different reservable space with big rooms that can be divided into smaller rooms and a couple right off aquatics,” Patten said. “There are a couple more rooms off the gym, and a community gathering area for a big public meeting or class.”

Among those who spoke in support of the project was Colin Olson, a grandson of Frank Olson, who said he was among the first people to swim in the outdoor pool when it opened in 1976.

His grandfather “liked kids to have fun,” Olson said, adding that his grandparents put goal posts on a vacant lot next to their house for kids to use.

“I think everything they’re doing is wonderful” with the new facility, he continued, noting that he would like more softball fields included.

Two fields are part of the current concept, as well as the return of a sledding hill.

“We’re doing a parking lot that will support the use of the park and the rec facility to save as much green space as possible,” Patten said. “And we’re doing a bunch of flexible open lawn spaces so programming can spill out of the building.”

The city has learned from its operation of the Westside Recreation Center but also is bringing design elements from the proposed center at Frank Olson into the one on the west side.

A temporary indoor playground there is slated to be replaced with a larger, more permanent one, for example.

Construction at Frank Olson Park is expected to begin in the spring, with an opening likely in early 2029.