City Council approves master plan for Falls Park

A new master plan that envisions the future of Falls Park has been approved.

The process began in 2021 and represents the first new master plan for the area since 1992. The Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation Department held a design competition to develop comprehensive ideas to address the future of the area. Confluence, a landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm, was awarded the design contract.

Goals included:

• Create a year-round destination.
• Preserve and enhance the heart of the park.
• Improve circulation and safety.
• Expand recreational opportunities.
• Embrace full-season programming.
• Seek out partnership opportunities.
• Improve water quality, and incorporate environmentally friendly designs.
• Preserve historical elements, and develop only in appropriate areas.

The vision is to “continue to elevate Falls Park into a signature park, so that it continues to grow on the success that’s been built since the 1990s,” said Jon Jacobson, principal at Confluence.

As a signature park, the area would be highly programmed, similar to the activities that already exist at Jacobson Plaza on the park’s west side.

“You can go there any time of day, no matter your age, and there’s going to be a recreational activity there for you to do,” Jacobson said.

Here’s a summary of the overall plan’s key elements:

“You see an enhanced center green core space, moving a lot of the parking around to the edges of the parameter of the park, improving some road circulation around the farmers market, making improvements for vendors there,” Jacobson said.

The plan also calls for creating a new pedestrian-friendly land bridge connecting the north and south halves of the park, incorporating the quarry into the park and enhancing circulation for visitors.

“Ultimately, all those improvements eventually add up to year-round recreation for everybody in our community and visitors alike,” Jacobson said.

The City Council voted 5-1 to approve the plan, with Councilor Curt Soehl casting the opposing vote.

Soehl criticized the plan’s lack of a timetable and funding sources.

“I think it really falls short,” he said.

There is “no specific timeline for this particular vision,” said Mike Patten, city park development manager.

“We look to cast a framework for future opportunities and work toward eventual success of it.”