Courtesy Sioux Falls
Shortly after World War II, an effort to restore and preserve the falls’ natural beauty was launched, and what park visitors see today is the result of that 50-year effort.
The 123-acre park includes the three-tiered falls, walking trails and some of the first buildings constructed in the city in the 1850s. The old Sioux Falls Light and Power Company building, which housed three 500-kilowatt hydroelectric generators, now houses the Falls Overlook Cafe, a quaint stop for light bites and ice cream.
Like many older buildings in Sioux Falls, the building was constructed using Sioux quartzite, a durable stone still mined from quarries in and around the city.
Examples of Sioux quartzite from Sioux Falls can be found throughout the Midwest as well as in downtown Sioux Falls, an area that, like many urban centers, has seen revitalization.
That initiative began 21 years ago when two local women discussed over lunch their dream of turning the magnificent Washington High School building, first called Old Central High School when it was built in 1879 in the center of downtown, into a performing arts and science center.
Michele Wellman, director of marketing and communications for the Washington Pavilion, said the neoclassical structure is on the National Register of Historic Places, and like much other classic architecture in the city, was constructed with Sioux quartzite. The walls are 16 inches thick, and the rock’s strength is two points below the hardness of a diamond.
The pavilion is an example of the fortitude and resolve of the city’s citizens. Workmen chiseled the building by hand, and the ancestors of those who labored long and hard did not want to see the building meet the wrecking ball.
The committee of locals raised $13 million in private donations to save the building and make it the center of Sioux Falls’ cultural activity.
NASA made a $3 million grant for the science center, and citizens approved an additional $15 million bond to complete the first-class performing arts, science and art center.
