Sioux Falls crews are officially into construction on the city’s first-ever indoor aquatics center. The mayor, city council members and area supporters celebrate the milestone Monday during a community event. Leaders say amenities in the new pool cater to everyone from toddlers to senior citizens.
Project groundbreakings in Sioux Falls usually involve dignitaries wielding gold-toned shovels to overturn small mounds of dirt. The Spellerberg park ceremony has that, but the existing concrete slated for demolition requires more than a few hand tools.
Two huge yellow construction machines drill into the aging outdoor pool deck and flip chunks of concrete. This is the first step in the two-year process to construct an indoor aquatics center.
Don Kearney is director of the Parks and Recreation Department. He says the plan has water slides and a current channel for family fun. Kearney says the center includes a zero-depth pool that eases into swimming lanes. He says people in Sioux Falls need those lap lanes for exercise, therapy and aquatics clubs.
"With this new facility, it’ll be a 50-meter by 10-lane competition pool, but it will also be able to be converted so that you can swim 25 yards with 20 lanes," Kearney says. "So to have those additional lanes available for our community is just awesome and is really going to meet the need long-term for those lap lanes."
Kearney says the facility plans also include diving boards, a sun deck and multi-purpose rooms.
Earlier this year, voters in Sioux Falls overwhelmingly approved the new indoor pool, and city leaders are paying for the project in cash.