Final concept released for east-side indoor recreation center

A new 80,000-square-foot proposed recreation center would bring not just indoor swimming but also a large variety of other year-round athletic options to Frank Olson Park.

The final recommendation to replace the outdoor pool calls for an estimated $47 million indoor facility that would be built on the south end of the east-side park.

It would include “a full complement of multigenerational, multi-experiential recreation programs,” said Tom Poulos, CEO and managing principal of Illinois-based Williams Architects, which was hired by the city to work through the initial planning and design process.

An indoor track would wind throughout the facility for walking, and an interactive play structure is designed near the entrance.

The aquatics part of the center includes a “lifestyle pool full of indoor recreational and wellness programming,” Poulos said.

It includes an “easy river” channel for resistant swimming, a flume slide that pierces its way outside the building and then winds back in, along with a play area with interactive water features.

There’s a separate 25-yard, six-lane lap pool for fitness, swim lessons and adult programming.

“You already have a signature competition pool in the community, so here’s a way to augment that facility with complementary indoor swim opportunities that don’t cannibalize what you already have at Midco but complement it,” Poulos said.

The balance of the building would include a full-size gymnasium with flexible courts for basketball, volleyball and pickleball.

There will be some fitness equipment designed to promote “communitywide wellness, with some cardio, performance training, strength training and some self-directed activities and some organized group exercise classes,” he said.

A kiosk area also is being designated for Siouxland Libraries, and an outdoor patio/pavilion area is being designed for events. The venue would accommodate food trucks for gatherings and be adjacent to the sledding hill in the park, so it also could be used as a gathering area in the winter, Poulos said.

The area “has a very residential quality to it,” he added. “You have to be very sensitive to the neighbors around there and that means with vehicle flow through the facility as well as any structures you put on it.”

The firm recommended a design for the building that integrates it into the landscape.

Take a look at the entire concept for the park here:

Design is scheduled to take about a year, with construction following for two years, putting the building on track to open in 2027. Because the center is being built in a different part of the park, the existing pool can stay open until the new one is ready.

The broader plan for Frank Olson Park calls for improvements to be made to the existing ballfields on the north side of the park “to bring them up to our current standards for ballfields,” said Mike Patten, city parks planning and project manager.

“We have analyzed our field usage systemwide and have plenty of capacity for softball’s current and future use. We are also planning for community growth and potential locations for future ballfield development.”

Other improvements to the park include pickleball courts and an enhanced playground.

While opinions varied throughout the public input process, they skewed heavily toward preferring an indoor pool, Poulos said.

“People want a cross-section of indoor-outdoor opportunities in a multifunctional park and a multigenerational facility,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, as a general rule, people understand and are circling around and embracing what can happen there. And that to me is unique. It’s a good thing, and I think shows the character of the Sioux Falls people.”

The Sioux Falls City Council is scheduled to vote on a bond, which is estimated at up to $77 million and includes the recreation center at Frank Olson, an outdoor pool at Kuehn Park and the purchase and renovation of the west-side Sanford Wellness Center.

Proposed Kuehn pool would have the most amenities of any in the city

City plans to buy Sanford Wellness for west-side indoor recreation center