Realizing a Dream

The Barb Iverson Skate Plaza is fostering comradery and community among skateboarders and non-skaters alike.

Skateboarding, with it's edgy aesthetic, punk-rock attitude, and tight-knit community, has long been an important component in the cultural tapestry of Sioux Falls. But, until this past summer, there haven't been many places to skate and the ones that existed were old and tired. A group of local skateboarders and skate lovers partnered with the Community Foundation to deliver a brand new, state-of-the-art skate park to Sioux Falls. The result is pretty gnarly.

Naming the Skate Plaza after Barb Iverson, a local middle school teacher, makes perfect sense once you know a little about her. "Barb realized that there was a group of kids who maybe weren't the most outgoing in the classroom or weren't the best in team sports, but they had this comradery in skateboarding" said Alix Kyrie, board member for Let's Skate. "Since there weren't any skate parks in Sioux Falls, she would load them up in the car and take them to Watertown or Minneapolis to skate. The adults those kids became are the ones who built this skate park, and it was all because of her."

Skateboarding is more than just a sport — it's a culture, one that is often subject to stereotypes. In reality, skateboarding is vibrant and welcoming and offers a sense of belonging to people from all walks of life. "The architect we worked with on the Skate Plaza, Kanten Russel, told us: 'If your city doesn't build a skate park, it becomes one,'" said Kyrie.

By fostering this community in Sioux Falls, Kyrie says, Let's Skate is not only providing a safe space for that comradery witnessed by Iverson to blossom, they are proving to the community that skateboarders "aren't just a bunch of hoodlums."

The Barb Iverson Skate Plaza is among the largest skate parks in the country and sports an impressive array of features. The Foundation is proud to have played a role in bringing this transformative facility to the community by partnering with Let’s Skate. “The Foundation took care of everything we needed from a back-office perspective, things that none of us at Let’s Skate had experience in. That allowed us the freedom to focus on what we are good at,” said Kyrie.

"Being able to say we were working with the Community Foundation earned us legitimacy and visibility we wouldn't have had otherwise. Without that, we wouldn't have had a seat at nearly as many tables as we did."

By tapping into the huge nascent support for skateboarding in our community, Let's Skate has cemented Sioux Falls as a destination for skaters throughout the region. They also honor Iverson's legacy in a profound way, making sure that more individuals of all ages are able to find that belonging and comradery. "Everyone is welcome at the Skate Plaza, whether or not you skateboard," Kyrie said.