Outdoor Campus starts work on big expansion, new archery range

Nearly 30 years after opening, the Outdoor Campus has started a major expansion.

The campus, which is part of South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks, broke ground this month at Sertoma Park on a multiphase project.

“Currently, the design documents and construction documents have been completed for the outdoor archery range, which is the first phase,” director David Parker said. “The indoor documents are nearing completion but with no dates set yet on construction for the indoor component and second phase.”

With Sioux Falls growing at a considerable rate, it was time for a larger update to the Outdoor Campus at 4500 S. Oxbow Ave., Parker said.

The outdoor range is scheduled to be ready this fall.

New additions planned for the second phase include a 5,000-square-foot indoor range with 12 shooting lanes and a 20-yard range for archery and BB guns, three classrooms, updated restrooms, outdoor grilling space and an improved bird-viewing area with an aerated and heated pond.

“Given the current climate at the city, it is time for us to make a bigger change,” Parker said. “The goal of the expansion is to continue to connect folks with the outdoors through recruitment, retention and reactivation of outdoor users.”

The Outdoor Campus offers free programming to anyone who comes through the facility. Parker said this expansion will allow it to reach a larger audience in the greater Sioux Falls area.

The total project is estimated at $7 million, part of which will be donated.

“The South Dakota Parks & Wildlife Foundation, in partnership with the Friends of the Outdoor Campus Sioux Falls, has been working to fundraise for this expansion,” Parker said. “We are currently at $2.7 million, so very near our fundraising goal of $3 million.”

Since 1997, the Outdoor Campus has held more than 21,000 programs, reaching more than a half-million students, Parker said.

The facility recently started tracking general visitors and found that more than 110,000 people walked through the door last year and more than 126,000 hiked the trails at Sertoma Park.