When I was at the Sioux Steel open house the other day, the CEO of the company said there was a public park adjacent to the river and their property. He also said it is rarely visited because no one knows it is there. It is basically the remnants of Seney Island after a backfill occurred that Sioux Steel is built on now.

So I was out for a long walk on Sunday and decided to see if I could access the park. First I tried to find a path from the 6th Street bridge, no luck. So I actually walked through the shipyard and entrance of Sioux Steel and found this sign;

Well, it certainly is a park, it has a picnic table and not much of anything else.

There is a historic marker about Seney Island (sorry I couldn’t get a picture of side two unless I stood in the river. No thanks.)

So I tried to see if there was a North Entrance to the Park from the South Side of Falls Park. I found this retaining wall at the top of the Falls with a chainlink fence only a few feet from the water. Maybe since the water was high it was covering up a trail, but I did not see ANY access to the park from the Northside. To be honest with you, I don’t even know what the name of the park is? I also think it is strange you have to walk across private property to access it. I have lived in Sioux Falls since 1991, and I never knew the park existed until last Thursday. It will be my new favorite hiding spot.

3 Thoughts on “The Secret Park that used to be Seney Island

  1. It’s Kiwanis Park, according to Google Maps.

  2. If we restored Seney. The excess dirt from the trench that would have to be dug to restore the once Island’s presence could be given to Levitt…. Its got to be better soil than the dirt from a “blighted area,” wouldn’t you think?

    And when they get the uncompleted Arch, or Arc, done across the Sioux. Well, having a glistening Seney in the near distance would be a most charming and surprising relief for weathered canoeists, whom have fallen victim to new local liquor store micro brews and their often complementary mirages…..

    “Seney Now!”……”Seney or Fight!”……..”I Have Seney Enough, I Want Her Back!”…..”We Will Restore Seney, Then The Siding!”….. “It Has Been Too Long Since I Seney!”…….(Oh my goodness, I just thought. You don’t think they will rename it Sanford Island, do you? (Because my jokes won’t work)(What Jokes?)))

  3. Yep. That’s Kiwanis park. We had a presentation on it when I was a member of the “downtown” Kiwanis club (which meets at royal fork). I believe Wes Garcia made the presentation. He would be pretty easy to find on Facebook if you wanted some more details about the park’s history.

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