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New Community Engagement Process Will Address City’s Aging Aquatic Facilities
The Sioux Falls Parks Foundation today announced a collaboration with the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation and Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation to help support a new community engagement process to address aging aquatic facilities in Sioux Falls.
Led by the Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation Department, the effort builds on the most recent Parks Master Plan and will seek to understand the community’s current and future needs and wants relative to replacing its aging pool facilities. The study begins next month and will feature three primary phases:
- The Information Gathering phase will seek community input through in-person discussion and via online platforms.
- The Public Engagement phase will feature the presentation of ideas at neighborhood and community meetings.
- The Public Feedback phase will seek reaction through in-person discussion and via online platforms.
The Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation will present the final results of the study at the end of this year.
Jennifer Kirby chairs the Sioux Falls Parks Foundation’s Advisory Board. She called the study “the right thing at the right time for our community.”
“We continue to see extraordinary growth across Sioux Falls, and all indicators show that growth continuing for the foreseeable future,” Kirby said. “We know parks and pools play an important role in building connections among neighbors, in strengthening our community, in improving our physical and mental well-being and in our overall quality of life — so there’s never been a better time to understand how our community uses the facilities we have today. That understanding will help inform the parks and pools of tomorrow.”
The results of the study, Kirby said, will also help guide the work of the Sioux Falls Parks Foundation.
Our efforts are defined by our community’s goals and needs, so for us, the results of this study will provide key strategic direction as we work in collaboration with the Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Department to provide generous donors with opportunities and ideas for strategic investments in community parks and aquatic facilities.
— Jennifer Kirby, Chair, Sioux Falls Parks Foundation Advisory Board
Director of Parks & Recreation Don Kearney called the community engagement process an exciting step for the future of Sioux Falls.
“Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation is thrilled by the ongoing support of the Sioux Falls Parks Foundation and appreciates their support to help fund the facilitation of this community engagement process,” Kearney said.