With $800K boost, skateboard park kicks off final fundraising

Efforts to build a state-of-the-art skateboard park in downtown Sioux Falls recently received a major boost.

The city of Sioux Falls dedicated $800,000 in matching funds for the Sioux Falls Skatepark Association. The money comes from COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government focused on infrastructure.

The city match complements the fundraising campaign that kicks off today as part of the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Community Appeal campaign, which continues through March.

The fundraising goal is $1.35 million, said Walter Portz, who co-founded the nonprofit Sioux Falls Skatepark Association in 2017.

If all goes as planned, the design process will start in April. The projected opening of the park is July 2023.

“Once we have the money, I think it will happen pretty quick,” Portz said. “We really hope to have it open in the summer of 2023. Then, we’ll get to have some use before schools starts and have a cool kickoff.”

The city of Sioux Falls will manage the construction of the park with a lot of design input from the association, Portz said. Building a skate park is a specialized skill beyond laying concrete. The angles and transitions from one feature to the next need to be precise.

An association board member mentioned there was going to be COVID-19 money available through the city. Portz approached City Councilor Rick Kiley, whose son was a skater with Portz growing up, to get the request started. That led to conversations with other councilors and Mayor Paul TenHaken.

“The conversations were so positive, that’s when I knew,” Portz said. “I knew we’d get there. I didn’t know when we’d get there. This expedites it substantially.”

The skate park site is near 10th Street and Cliff Avenue, across the street from the Drake Springs Family Aquatic Center. A location near downtown is ideal for skater access, Portz said.

“For the users, it’s fantastic,” he said. “For a kid who goes to skate all day, there are four or five choices for food. There is a hospital six blocks away. There is a pool right there so families can go. You can go jump in the pool on a hot day.”

Portz knows the realization of the dream of a high-quality skateboard park in the city has been a long time coming. Previous efforts have run up against skepticism and social barriers that have receded as that first wave of the skateboard generation aged and started their own families.

Skateboarding today has mainstream appeal to kids regardless of age or gender. And leaders recognize the value of all types of recreational opportunities in terms of quality of life, workforce development and economic growth.

“The current leadership in our city is progressive enough to see how ideas can function within their vision of what this city needs,” Portz said.

The Sioux Falls Skatepark Association is hosting a kickoff event from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. today at DaDa Gastropub, 402 N. Main Ave.

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