As we said when they lost that battle with the city council ‘Yes, Yes and Yes’.
So here is the news we expected to hear;
The new facilities will replace LifeScape’s 26th Street children’s specialty hospital, residential and school location.Â
The children’s campus on 26th street will eventually be sold, but that can’t happen until the new campus is fully functional.Â
The project will require fundraising and infrastructure still needs to be done. While LifeScape ideally would like to be done in a few years, the entire campus could take up to five years, Watkins said.
The renderings shown in this piece were produced by the late architect Jeff Hazard before he passed away last year.
As suspected, these plans were probably already set in motion when they came to the council to ask for the street closure. See, the way the rules work is if a street is closed, the adjacent property owner (LifeScape, in this instance) gets possession of the property at NO cost. This of course increases the value of the property. Billion Auto pulled this trick a few years back, except they still own the property where the street used to be.
It pains me that a non-profit that employees great people, does great things in our community and is a needed service would have people in leadership/management who felt they should try to manipulate the city council and an entire neighborhood for financial gains. Thanks to the insight and vision of 3 councilors (Brekke, Starr and Stehly) and countless citizens in the neighborhood that pushed back, this financial windfall at the expense of taxpayers and people living in the neighborhood never happened. If you want our money, just ask. I often expect people to conduct their private business and non-profits with integrity, but especially organizations that help the disabled.
I’ve heard of kids ruining a neighborhood, but I’ve never heard of a neighborhood ruined by kids.
Children are the new TIFs. You can’t say no, but if you did, there is nothing they could do about it.
GIs in Vietnam had to deal with kids with grenades in hand. Our city council can’t even deal with kids who are empty handed.
I noticed the new “The Banquet’ along Marion Road south from Madison Road. It’s in NW. Sioux Falls in a prime industrial park. It’s not near a poor neighborhood, not on a bus line, and a $20 cab ride from Whittier. Worse, it’s luxury new construction with no activity. This is worse than 6 indoor tennis courts nobody can find and without tennis players.
It seems to me these projects are built with tax free contributions and meant to fail. It will subliminally sell for $1 on the courthouse steps and become prime office/commercial for a developer.
It’s very sad when oligarchs get rich from money meant for charity. People are starving while one percenters drink Dom Perinon and dine on caviar. No shame for the wicked.
The Banquet has been serving meals at a temporary location (for them) at the fairgrounds for a number of years- two nights a week serving 100 to 150 people for each meal. It is not easy accessing that site and it is not always available. The new location is across the street from a mobile home park- hardly a bastion of wealth. It is accessible for a number of the working poor in that Hayward area and numerous mobile home residents.
Nice try Matt. The areas where people need help is north and northeast Sioux Falls. Yes, the trailer park is middle income but how many show up at the new Banquet. Yes, they work several jobs but the situation for one mobile home park is hardly dire. When people live on subsidy and food stamps in slum lord rentals, that’s where help is needed. If you’re paying on a mobile home, you have equity. If you have a car and don’t have to live near a bus line, you’re somewhat ahead.
I think we know who’s behind ‘The Banquet’. It’s people who failed as televangelists and tricky charity concepts. It didn’t start that way. It was once the only charity I would contribute to. Charities such as United Way and ASPCA are 90% overhead. Their executives set monthly meetings in a tropical paradise and pay themselves 7 figures. Even Goodwill is for profit now. What’s needed is a reputable tax deductible organization. Drop off blankets, coats, and can goods. This works but it’s not recognized as charity. I’ve done ‘Go Fund Me’ for Hayward. It reaches those for which it’s intended
It feels great to pay it forward once you’re successful. You feel a sucker when what you gave bought someone a Mercedes.
so where are the people being served now at the fairgrounds coming from – the new location is just across the interstate in north Sioux Falls; there has been a need demonstrated there; not sure but understand that Hayward School has some of the poorest students in the district