Proposed updates to Hayward Park could be 'transformative' for neighborhood

When Derek Maassen started as the principal of Hayward Elementary School in 2020, it didn't take long for him to become passionate about nearby Hayward Park and what it could mean for the neighborhood.

Maassen said that plans to revitalize the park had been discussed by former principal Jeff Sheets as well as Steve Hildebrand, chair of the Promising Futures Fund.

"My role now is to not drop the baton," Maassen said in an interview, several days after he spoke at a city council informational meeting about the park's new master plan — which could see those goals realized by next year.

"It's a feel-good project," Don Kearney, the director of Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation said of the plan, which aims to add numerous updates and improvements to the parks current features, which the council presentation called "dated" and "disconnected."

Chief among them would be a spray park similar to the Pioneer Spray Park that opened in June of 2020, as Kearney said a desire for access to water-based recreation was a recurring theme in feedback from kids, parents and others in the neighborhood.

"It'll be an amazing piece of recreation," Maassen said of the spray park, noting that Kuehn Pool is currently the closest option — at an hour's walk across 12th Street and Skunk Creek. "It's just not realistic for our students to use that water," he said.

Other planned features include an off-leash dog park, a walking loop and an expanded community garden — a nod to the fact that the park sits within a food desert.

All told, the estimated cost of the project is $2.2 million, nearly 70% of which would go to the spray park.

Kearney noted that it operates "just like a swimming pool would," meaning beside the concrete and pipes, a system has to be in place to chlorinate and clean the water. A structure has to house that system.

A restroom would be added to the park as well, which Kearney said is included in the $1.5 million estimate for the spray park.

Some of that funding is already planned — MarketBeat founder Matt Paulson spoke at the informational meeting, saying he and the rest of his Leadership Sioux Falls class were aiming to raise $100,000 for the park.

Hildebrand also spoke at the meeting, calling Hayward Elementary School and the neighborhood "a major project of ours" and saying the Promising Futures Fund was committed to at least $100,000, and hoped they would raise more.

"It's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of trailer houses, it's a mobile home park," Hildebrand said of the neighborhood. "In most of these courts, they don't have much for a yard, they don't have sidewalks for the most part. So for kids to play safely, they need a place they can go to."

Maassen echoed those comments, calling the neighborhood "an amazing group of people to work with and serve."

He noted it could sometimes be challenging to get a hold of parents of the school's students — not because they didn't care, he emphasized, but because so many of them work multiple jobs and are constantly busy.

"Again, that goes back to why this park is so important," Maassen said. "It can be a place where kids go to feel safe."

The project is expected to come before the council within the next three months, Kearney said, and if approved they'd expect to have it bid out by the end of the year, with construction in the spring and summer of 2022.

Council members were largely supportive of the plan — especially Councilor Greg Neitzert, whose district covers the park and neighborhood, which he called "near and dear to my heart."

"I think it's something that'll be really transformative and really show them, and show those kids that you're valuable," Neitzert said. "This would be a huge, huge deal."

Maassen said he's glad that everyone involved in the project seems to be engaged and working to make it happen — and hopes it translates into a great experience for his students and the neighborhood where they live.

"I can look at that park through my window," he said, "and see the potential here."