Redeveloped Chris Larsen Park a 'premier location' in Sioux City

Additions to the Missouri Riverfront include an interactive fountain, playground, red bench-style swing, plaza, dog park, overlooks, trails and exercise equipment.

"In my opinion, it is everything that we planned it to be," Wallace said of the park.

Back in 2015, the city submitted a request for quote for a master plan for the riverfront. Since then, a host of people, including generous donors, have worked to make the improvements a reality.

Ground was broken on the first phase of the project in June 2020, with construction starting just west of Virginia Street and ending at the Floyd River. 

Floyd Plaza features fountains and misters that rise up from the ground, with a push of a button, as well as a shelter and seating. The fountain is operational during park hours, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

"It does run through a cycle, so if there's no activity and no one reactivates it, it does shut off. It doesn't run continuously," Wallace said. 

Adjacent to Floyd Plaza is the Great Lawn, promenade and Exploration Ridge.

Wallace said the Great Lawn will host special events. She said people will be able to rent the green space, which is sponsored by Missouri River Historical Development, for concerts or other city-wide events. Native plants, such as purple coneflowers, and tiered seating line the promenade, a leisurely public walkway by the Great Lawn.

"We wanted to create a seating opportunity that was different in height and scope, and kind of give a different texture and feel to the park," Wallace said. "The block concrete and wood plank seating is part of the whole design."

Exploration Ridge features slides, as well as swings and climbing apparatuses. The playground is covered with a shade structure.

"The slide features are metal, so we wanted to make sure that we were ensuring some safety for our littles ones who are going to play on the playground," Wallace said.

Exercise equipment is affixed at the top of the ridge and can also be found in other areas of the park.

"There's an elliptical machine. There's a bike. There's arm exercises, lat pulls, overhead presses at that station," Wallace said.

Another fitness amenity is a yoga lawn. The green space has its own shade structure to keep yoga program participants protected from the sun. 

"We added the canopy, of course, because, on days like this when it's super sunny, that structure creates a tranquil environment," Wallace said.

Parkgoers will find a handful of overlooks along the riverfront. One of them is positioned where the Argosy riverboat casino was formerly docked.

"Primarily the locations where we have the overlooks are locations where there were already, either structures in place, or it was just feasible in the design and layout to include them in those locations," Wallace said.

Plants and plots in the Stockyard Garden were designed to resemble cattle stalls. 

"It's a broad interpretation of that, but that's kind of where the design team was going," Wallace said of Smith Group, the firm that provided design services for the project.

The park's red bench-style swing, which was donated by Dave Layhee, of McCook Lake, South Dakota, is rarely ever empty.

Layhee, of McCook Lake, South Dakota, got the idea to have such a swing fabricated after visiting friends in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He said a friend of his donated a similar swing in Coeur d'Alene, a city in the northwestern portion of the state known for water sports.

"One of my friends donated a swing. And, then, there was another party, once that swing went up, who donated in the city park area that overlooks the lake," Layhee said. "That's what I tried to capture."

Layhee obtained the swing's blueprints from Coeur d'Alene parks and recreation staff. Then, those design plans were passed on to Dan Lee, of Port Neal Welding Company, so the swing could be fabricated. Layhee said he chose red for the swing because it's his favorite color.

"I thought it would be a nice addition. I find two or three people just sitting in the swing, gazing out at the river," said Layhee, who noted the swing has a braking system to prevent people from falling off of it or flipping it over. "What the city's been able to do with that whole complex, I think, is just phenomenal. It's going to be a go-to place."