Sioux Falls City Council approves bond to fund pool replacements

After years of planning, replacements for two aging Sioux Falls swimming pools are a big step closer to reality.

The City Council unanimously approved a bond ordinance Tuesday authorizing borrowing up to $68 million to replace the outdoor pool at Frank Olson Park with a recreation center that will include an indoor pool and to replace an outdoor pool at Kuehn Park. The bond also will fund improvements at the newly acquired Westside Recreation Center.

The bond allows the city “to chart a pathway forward so that the design of these facilities will be such that it will best serve the recreation and aquatic needs of this community — now and in the decades to come — overall for the community but also the neighborhoods in which they are located,” director of finance Shawn Pritchett said.

At about 80,000 square feet, the new facility at Frank Olson Park on the east side of the city will be designed for all ages. The proposed pool area includes an “easy river” channel for resistant swimming and 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.

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

A kiosk area also is being designated for Siouxland Libraries, and an outdoor patio/pavilion area is being designed for events. The venue will 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.

The City Council stipulated in passing the bond that another vote be taken once design on the Frank Olson facility is done before funds are released for construction.

Design is scheduled to take about a year, with construction following for two years. 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.

Here’s a look at the full concept for the park:

At Kuehn Park in southwest Sioux Falls, the proposed outdoor aquatic center would be the largest in the city, including diving boards, climbing walls, basketball hoops, a leisure river and a tube slide.

There will be three separate areas of water, including a pool for fitness laps, a leisure river pool with a tube slide and an activities pool that starts at zero depth and goes to 2 feet.

A yearlong design process will lead to at least a year of construction.

Here’s a closer look at the plan:

The improvements to the Westside Recreation Center, formerly Sanford Wellness Center, include roof and parking lot repairs as well as ADA-related improvements.

City details programming options for new recreation centers