Design update announced for new indoor recreation center at Frank Olson Park

Design of the city’s new indoor recreation center at Frank Olson Park is moving forward with an unprecedented level of input.

As part of approving the bond that will fund both the indoor recreation center at Frank Olson Park and a replacement outdoor pool at Kuehn Park, the Sioux Falls City Council stipulated that it approve the design of the Frank Olson center once it’s 85 percent complete.

To move toward that vote, a design advisory team has been meeting, comprised of 10 city staff members and representatives of the City Council and the Parks & Recreation board.

“We’ve worked with this team and the architectural team to go through the schematic design process and lay out spaces to reflect the programming and operational decisions we want,” said Mike Patten, the city’s parks planning and project manager.

“We’re starting to lay out the floor plans of the building, how big are the rooms, how big is the pool, what’s the size of the gym, how does the track lay out, what are the different multiflex spaces and how are they programmed.”

The two-story, 75,000-square-foot building taking shape likely will serve not just the east-side neighborhood but also be a community draw, with some amenities not found elsewhere in town.

The structure itself will be built into the hillside of Frank Olson Park, making it look like a one-story walkout-style building to the neighborhood.

“We’re starting to pick materials that make sense,” Patten added. “We’re trying to keep it in the flavor of Sioux Falls. It’s a neighborhood, so we’re trying to make it fit the neighborhood. We want it to be appropriate for the setting.”

The project team visited several facilities in the Denver area to get ideas that could be applied to the Sioux Falls design.

“The biggest thing we liked was we wanted to be able to feel the excitement,” Patten said, explaining that some older facilities felt more compartmentalized. The gym would be in one area, the pool in another, and there wasn’t a view throughout the space.

Newer versions were “way more open, lots of glass,” he continued. “If you’re walking on the track, you can see people playing basketball or divers on the high dive, the lobby and people playing cards. The excitement and energy you get is what we really gravitated to, making sure it’s an open feeling and inviting and exciting.”

In an update Tuesday to the City Council, designs showed a variety of uses on two levels.

The pool area likely will be separate bodies of water, with a lifestyle pool geared toward play and a separate wellness pool area for lap swimming and diving.

A slide “will punch out of the building and punch back in and by a runout,” Patten said. “There will be a lazy river because water walking is very, very popular” and lots of zero-depth areas.

Indoor play also is a key component of the Frank Olson design.

“When we bought the Westside Recreation Center, they weren’t thinking indoor play, so we’re trying to find creative ways to incorporate it, but with the Frank Olson one, it will be an integral part of the design,” Patten said.

The city’s experience operating the new Westside Recreation Center is proving insight into what’s popular, he added.

“Making sure we’re providing the right type of fitness opportunities at the appropriate levels,” he said. “You may use the fitness equipment, but your kids are on the play set or pool, so creating that multiuse opportunity is what we’re striving for.”

The hope is for ultimate City Council approval in August, which would allow bonds to be sold and construction to start in the spring.

“It’s been a good process and really collaborative,” Patten said.

Work on the design for Kuehn Park is “full throttle,” he added.

That project will bid this winter and begin construction in the spring for a 2028 swim season opening.

Frank Olson plans to bid in the summer of 2026 with two years of construction plus additional time for ramp-up before a 2029 opening.

Editors note: The estimated opening of Frank Olson has been edited since originally published.