The 15 concrete benches at Jacobson Plaza weigh 4,000 pounds each. To get them off the semitrailer without scratching them, the crew set them on dry ice so the lifting straps could slide out, and the ice melted away as the benches settled into place. Gavin Cotter of Urban Oasis Outdoor Living told SiouxFalls.Business that people started using the space the day the site fencing came down.
That was the week of Oct. 15. One week earlier, SiouxFalls.Business reported that Levitt at the Falls had opened the Sweetman Atrium next door. Together the two projects change how the area between the Levitt Shell and Falls Park works in cold weather. This year that corner of downtown has an indoor stage for the off-season, a level lawn built for events, and a permanent site for the city Christmas tree, all within walking distance of Winter Wonderland.
A Summer Venue That Ran Out of Room
Levitt has spent seven summers proving how many people will come to a free concert by the river. This summer's series drew more than 130,000 people to 45 concerts, president and CEO Nancy Halverson told SiouxFalls.Business. Levitt put the average concert crowd at 2,157, even though weather canceled five of the 50 scheduled dates.
All of that happened outdoors, at the shell that opened in 2019. Off the lawn, Levitt's staff worked from offices several blocks away. Heavy sound equipment was hauled back and forth to the shell, musicians got ready in a small space, and any partnership with another arts group meant renting a room somewhere else.
The Sweetman Atrium fixes that. The 7,000-square-foot addition was designed by Co-op Architecture and built by Beck & Hofer Construction for about $5.6 million. It includes the DSU Community Room, the Lust Family Second Stage, the Paulson Family Greenroom for artists, a dressing room and six offices. It also used up the last available land on the site. Halverson told SiouxFalls.Business:
"We'd have to go up, and we didn't design for that."
Some of the design came from years of working at the shell. One example is a backstage ramp, so an artist with a mobility issue no longer has to be brought in through the front of the stage. For the rest of us, the bigger change is that Levitt now has a heated room to host events in after the lawn season ends.
What Is Booked Inside Through December
The first ticketed show in the atrium is Levitt UpClose with The Two Tracks on Friday, Nov. 6. The Two Tracks are an Americana-folk rock quartet from Sheridan, Wyoming. The show starts at 8 p.m. in the DSU Community Room, doors open at 7, and Fairy Blue and Inkwell Echo open. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door.
The free Artist Speaker Series is a partnership between The Watering Can, Arts South Dakota and Levitt. It meets the second Tuesday of each month from September through May, 6:30 to 8 p.m., with no registration required, and the Facebook Live stream starts at 7. The Nov. 10 session is a grant recipient Q&A with Brian Bonde, Edwin Galindo, Mecca Rutherford and Xavier Pastrano, held in the DSU Community Room at 504 N Phillips Ave. The series is aimed at working artists, with sessions on marketing, client relationships and arts advocacy.
The city is also using the building. Mayor Christine Erickson has booked the atrium for some of her public listening sessions. Levitt's event listing includes several free Sioux Falls Listens sessions in the DSU Community Room this fall, with topics including the business community and economic development.
The holiday show is A Very Jazzy Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30, and tickets are $45 in advance or $50 at the door. Levitt staff are also talking with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Fellowship Jazz Center about future performances in the atrium.
The Lawn Next Door Is Why the Tree Moved
With the atrium covering the indoor side, Jacobson Plaza's second phase adds the outdoor space a holiday crowd needs.
The $2.6 million phase was about 90 percent funded by the plaza's lead donor, the Garry Jacobson family, along with the Rob Everist family. It adds a large, level lawn between the Levitt Shell's lawn and Jacobson Plaza, plus a scenic overlook and better walking connections to Falls Park, the Levitt Shell and The Steel District. Mayor Erickson noted that the site was an underused green space and, long before that, a scrapyard. Building on it meant working around contaminated soil and the Big Sioux River, and excavation turned up rock. Cotter said that "when you look at the Falls, there's quartzite everywhere." Construction took 27 weeks.
The most useful feature for the holidays is a dedicated plaza with built-in lighting and electrical service. The city plans to make it the permanent home of its large Christmas tree and to use it for holiday celebrations and other community events. Brett Kollars, assistant director of the Parks and Recreation Department, told SiouxFalls.Business that "phase two is the glue to so much of it."
The tree will be lit on Nov. 20, the same night Winter Wonderland at Falls Park begins. That puts the city tree, the Levitt lawn and the park's light displays on one connected walk, with the atrium nearby when it's open.
The Season in Order
These dates span about two months. Here they are in order:
- Friday, Nov. 6. Levitt UpClose with The Two Tracks, 8 p.m., DSU Community Room. Ticketed.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10. Artist Speaker Series grant recipient Q&A, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Free.
- Friday, Nov. 20. City Christmas tree lighting at Jacobson Plaza and the first night of Winter Wonderland.
- Friday, Nov. 27. The 34th annual First Bank & Trust Parade of Lights, 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Phillips Avenue. Free.
- Saturday, Dec. 5. The 605 Made Holiday Market at Cherapa Apex, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by the first Downtown Christmas Market at Cherapa Place Plaza, 3 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 19. A Very Jazzy Christmas, 7:30 p.m., Sweetman Atrium. Ticketed.
- Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027. Last night of Winter Wonderland.
Falls Park, Phillips Avenue and Cherapa Place
Winter Wonderland lights Falls Park every night from Nov. 20, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027, and it costs nothing to visit. You can walk the park, take in the whole display from the five-story observation tower, or drive through with FM 97.7 playing music that matches the lights. For a sense of scale, last year's display used 338,000 LEDs and lights on 260 trees and 215 light poles, plus more than a mile of garland.
A week after the tree lighting, the Parade of Lights runs south on Phillips Avenue from 13th Street to 5th Street, ending at the downtown edge closest to the Levitt and Falls Park area.
Downtown Sioux Falls Inc.'s first Downtown Christmas Market takes place Dec. 5 at Cherapa Place Plaza, 300 N Cherapa Place. Plans include carolers, seasonal food and drinks, Santa photos, offerings from downtown retailers and family activities, and Pomegranate Market will serve as the "Holiday Host Headquarters." KELOLAND reported early vendors and attractions including The Spice & Tea Exchange, Terra Shepherd Boutique, Plum's Cooking Company, Landscape Garden Centers, Matchbox Candle Company, Totally Rad Pizza, Fig & Fir Resale, the Whittier Carolers and Premiere Playhouse. As of Oct. 8, Downtown Sioux Falls was still looking for more vendors, so expect the list to grow. Because the 605 Made Holiday Market at Cherapa Apex ends at 4 p.m. and the Christmas Market starts at 3, you can shop both on the same Saturday, then walk over to the falls once it gets dark.
Put together, the season is easy to follow. The tree is at Jacobson Plaza on the Levitt lawn, the lights are at Falls Park, the parade is on Phillips Avenue, the market is at Cherapa Place, and on the nights it has a show, the Sweetman Atrium is the indoor stop.
At CORE Real Estate, we follow projects like Jacobson Plaza and the Sweetman Atrium because public spaces like these shape daily life downtown. If you'd like to talk about how projects like these factor into a property decision of your own, we're glad to help. Contact Us.
