Pool input shows residents leaning toward indoor options

Sioux Falls residents in neighborhoods slated for pool replacements seem to be favoring indoor options.

That’s the conclusion of both firms that held public meetings last week and now will be working design concepts for the city to consider.

“When we asked people what was missing from the park … indoor recreation space was the No. 1 vote-getter,” said David Locke, landscape architect at Stockwell Engineers, which is working on concepts for Kuehn Park.

Of the approximately 80 people who attended last week’s session on Kuehn, about 60 to 65 regularly voted using an interactive method at the session, he said.

The top three requests: an indoor recreation center, pickleball courts and potentially a fitness park similar to what the city recently installed at Rotary Park.

As far as actual spaces within a recreation center, an indoor pool was the most requested, followed by a walking track and multipurpose spaces or gyms.

“Then, we asked people what their priority would be for an indoor pool and the focus for an indoor aquatics facility,” Locke said. “Recreation, family fun was the top vote followed by swimming lessons and then fitness lap swimming.”

Most-requested pool features included fitness lap lanes, diving boards and water slides.

When asked to choose between an outdoor and indoor pool replacement at Kuehn, “90 percent of them said recreational center with indoor pools is what they would prefer to see,” Locke said.

“Obviously, we didn’t have any dollar signs associated with anything — this was us trying to gather feedback from the public on what they’d like to see. So we need to weigh all the answers we received with — from our professional opinion — what is best for the park and best for the community and also weigh that with budget and working with the city on if it’s something to phase over time or what’s the initial investment.”

Residents can continue to give feedback for Kuehn Park planning here.

The process for creating a master plan for Frank Olson Park also took a step forward last week, with a slightly different approach.

Williams Architecture held multiple meetings in Sioux Falls to advance a design process based on public feedback.

“It was good — very, very productive, and I think everybody was pleased,” said Tom Poulos, CEO and managing principal of Williams Architecture.

The first day drew about 140 people, not including staff, and the second was more than 50.

“We received a lot of good input, and we’re still receiving it,” Poulos said.

As at Kuehn, common themes included a desire for indoor aquatics, gym and fitness space, he said.

“All those program components truly make up the word multigenerational facility, which was in strong factor at Frank Olson Park,” he said. “I think there’s a desire for some open space, some active space out there.”

While no concepts have been finalized, working drafts show the potential for ballfields, open green space, pickleball courts, outdoor play and a spray park, along with a trail and path system to improve accessibility and connectivity throughout the park.

“Everybody, I think, became pretty aware that there’s not this endless bucket of money,” Poulos said. “I think the park and recreation staff did a nice job communicating that message on the onset.”

If you missed the meeting, a recap and the initial designs will be available online.

To continue providing input on Frank Olson Park, residents can click here.

What’s next

Both firms are scheduled to present an update on their processes to the Sioux Falls City Council later this month. There’s also a public meeting coming for McKennan Park where Stockwell Engineers will share its concept plan for replacing the wading pool.