Hayward Park unveils improvements, with ripple effect in school, neighborhood

When Steve Hildebrand launched the nonprofit Promising Futures Fund in the fall of 2019, one of the first calls he got was from the secretary of Hayward Elementary.

He didn’t know her, but she came with a request that today has been answered in a bigger way than either of them likely could have envisioned less than four years ago.

“Would you please help us with playground equipment?” Hildebrand remembers her saying. “Our equipment is really old and rusted out and really dangerous for the kids, and we really don’t want them to play on it.”

One thing led to another and then another. First, the school itself received new playground equipment. This week, Hayward Elementary and its surrounding neighborhood will officially welcome not only a new playground but an entirely improved neighborhood park.

That’s not typical timing, but thanks multiple partnerships and a willingness to fast-track the work, what used to be fairly bare and uninspiring green space is set to become the center of a neighborhood.

“I think it turned out better than we ever could hope for,” said Don Kearney, director of the city’s parks and recreation department.

Overall improvements include the construction of a splash pad with shade structures and restrooms, an off-leash dog park with artificial turf and drinking fountain and a quarter-mile concrete walking loop.

The Sioux Falls School District gifted part of its property in the area to the city, and the city made improvements. Now, the new park playground is located closer to the elementary school and is “more of an obstacle course setup, which is pretty unique to the park there,” Kearney said. “It looks really good and it’ll be a nice complement to what the school district has for playground equipment as well.”

The equipment itself was funded through a Promising Futures project that included the class of Leadership Sioux Falls 35, totaling $160,000 in donations.

“It shows what’s possible when the community comes together to build something for public benefit,” said Matt Paulson, who helped organize the effort. “This project is a great example of collaboration between the city, a community neighborhood, and private donors and we’re thrilled to see it cross the finish line. It will be a great improvement for kids and families in the neighborhood.”

The park also has a large, irrigated lawn area for open space play.

“It’s been well used so far,” said Derek Massen, the school’s principal. “They’re just putting in the last phase of the playground now, students are really excited about that getting going, there are a lot of people using the walking track so far and the dog park gets lots of attention.”

Hayward is the city’s largest Title I elementary school with approximately 670 students. Kids who live in the area also don’t have easy access to swimming in the summer — Kuehn Pool is the closest one — so the new splash pad “really provides an aquatics experience in an area that was pretty limited with aquatic activity,” Kearney said. “Kuehn would be quite a distance to bike or walk there, so we’re excited to offer that to the neighborhood.”

The splash pad officially will turn on May 19 as part of a “splash of summer” celebration beginning at 4:30 p.m. to officially open the park. Maasen has used the event as a way to incentivize his students. Whoever has the best attendance and earns the most “HAWKS” tickets will be the student or students to turn on the splash pad.

HAWKS tickets celebrate students living out the acronym: Here, Accountable, Working Hard, Kind and Safe.

“They’re really excited,” Maasen said. “The parks department turned it on last week while some students were outside at recess and they all sprinted over there. They just wanted to see it in action.”

While the rest of the city aquatics facilities don’t open until June 2, this splash pad will stay open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily after the grand opening.

“Even though it’s a little earlier than normal, we feel like there’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm in that neighborhood now and we want to help kickstart the summer,” Kearney said, adding while splash pads aren’t staffed by lifeguards the parks department will take chlorine checks and monitor the mechanical system regularly.

Hayward also is a popular neighborhood for soccer — the largest site for the Neighborhood Soccer Program — and once turf grows in soccer goals will be returning, with new irrigation providing better playing conditions, Kearney said.

“The whole center part is perfect for soccer,” Hildebrand said, adding 130 kids signed up to play the sport “and a huge number of parents show up for this on Saturday mornings. We always knew the neighborhood was going to be big, but it’s twice as big as any other program.”

Sioux Falls Neighborhood Soccer

The park’s grand opening also coincides with Hayward’s second annual Somos Uno Cultural Event, which runs from 4:30 to 7 p.m. and celebrates the cultures represented in the school community.

Hayward is a two-way Spanish immersion school, offering program for native and non-native speakers to learn in Spanish and English together. Learning in both languages at an early age helps all students better master English, Maasen said.

“About 60 percent of our students are Hispanic, so we have a lot of students who speak Spanish at home and a lot of bilingual students here even if they’re not in the two-way program,” he said, adding the festival is a chance to celebrate the school’s diversity. It’s a free event for all and will include inflatables, outdoor games, Bingo, music, crafts and a traditional Mexican dance show.

“A lot of our families run food trucks, so we’re bringing those in, we have Hispanic dancers … so it’s a festival honoring culture that’s centered around Hispanic (culture).”

Future improvements will include extending the bike trail to Hayward Park for nearby Hayward Park, Hildebrand said.

“And from there it will go up north to McGovern Middle School with a new city park there. They have the land purchased, and the new elementary school is going to be there as well. It’ll be be big changes for that area.”