Riverline District could bring a new convention center to downtown Sioux Falls in new plan
Mayor Paul TenHaken announced what he called a "2050 Vision" for the city's proposed Riverline District that would see a new, larger convention center built in downtown Sioux Falls, while the city's existing convention center would be transformed into indoor recreation space.
The committee leading the project, as well as the public, had been encouraged to "dream big" as they thought about the future of the plot of land located near 10th Street and Cliff Avenue.
And over a year of discussions, TenHaken said it had become clear that the best use of the space would be a convention center — one that would allow the city to serve more potential customers, and reap the increased revenue and tax benefits of being located in the downtown area.
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The details on the "Riverline Center" are scarce, TenHaken said. With the use of the site finalized, the city will need to purchase the land, determine the size of the center and ideally find a full-service hotel with interest in being attached to or at least nearby the center.
"In the next 4-5 years, my hope is that the vision is complete," TenHaken said of the Riverline site.
The next step would be a renovation of the existing convention center into a public space for indoor recreation, which was why the press conference on the announcement was packed with dozens of children who responded excitedly when TenHaken asked them for ideas of what activities could be done in the proposed facility.
The city is in severe need of more indoor recreation space, TenHaken said, especially given the winters the area experiences.
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What's not included in the plan is the Sioux Falls Arena, or Sioux Falls Stadium. The city's Events Complex Advisory Board will meet on Thursday to continue discussions that began in late 2022, and have centered around recommendations made prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that called for moving the stadium and tearing down the arena.
That there's no stadium in this plan wasn't something TenHaken expected a year ago, he said. He thought it was a great idea, but public feedback was strongly against it.
While he said he still believed baseball in the city would have seen a "rejuvenation" if it had moved downtown, he said the public needed to be bought in to support a plan like this.
“If people don’t think we’re listening," he said, "we’re listening.”
Costs, like many other things in the plan, are also estimates. The land itself is expected to have a purchase price of about $8 million, with TenHaken "spitballing" a $200-250 million cost for the entirety of the 2050 vision.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: TenHaken announces plans for convention center at Riverline District
