Entries Tagged 'Downtown Sioux Falls' ↓

They are saying about 22,000 people have attended the 15 concerts so far (about 1,466 per show). They have been using clickers to count, and I would guess the numbers are pretty accurate. The more popular shows draw well over 3,000.

People are still bringing their dogs. Levitt cannot really control this since it is the jurisdiction of Parks Department and the city council would probably have to pass an ordinance banning pets at concerts (you know, like how they have banned people bringing their own alcohol – yet sell it there, that one still baffles me).

I was also a little annoyed last night when a volunteer said I couldn’t stand on the sidewalk because it was for people walking. I am well aware what a sidewalk is for and if someone comes along, I ‘can’ move. Besides, it’s a public park and public sidewalk. Next time worry about the dogs overheating in the sun.

SDPTV was filming the concert last night, so they put it up on the big screen which was kind of cool.

As you may or may not know, the apartments are being built by Legacy Development, the same business involved with the Parking Ramp Debacle and collapse of Copper Lounge.

I do believe the project also got some Federal tax incentives(?)

Almost every night I ride my bike through DTSF to look at how progress is going on various projects. This week Raven tore down the old building by their parking lot and they have been working on the donor wall at the Arc of Dreams (which is funny because they built a concrete block wall a single block wide, then attached cut quartzite to the concrete block. Why not just use solid quartzite? Weird.

But the one thing I have noticed is the Legacy apartment project has been hardly touched for several weeks. In fact the plywood and studs that are exposed are starting to dis-color with all the rain and heat.

I have a city official looking into the progress and hope to give an update.

Mind you, the guy below may have been just legitimately taking an ‘intended’ nap, though I think laying in the sun at 6 PM in the evening probably wasn’t ‘planned’. He also didn’t look homeless, he had on brand new sneakers and a nice backpack.

But the bigger point is more and more I have been seeing people DTSF taking ‘naps’ in some of the most random spots, and others have noticed. It happens a lot around the Dudley House and Nelson Park. The other day I saw a guy passed out in front of the Holiday Inn on the sidewalk.

While I have seen this along the bike trails for years, it seems this summer the locations of these ‘naps’ are becoming more dangerous.

I guess yesterday a drunken brawl broke out by the Dudley House until a citizen broke it up. I have thought all along concentrating our homeless services in a neighborhood was NOT a good idea. I had suggested like the County’s Safe Home that a shelter should have been built by the jail.

When you break down the numbers, that is well over 2,000 overtime parking tickets a month (people who are parked in an expired meter spot)

According to the city, in May they issued $23,881 in overtime parking tickets and $4,964 in prohibited parking tickets (parking in a loading zone, for example).

The city’s parking division is going to need all the money they can get now that they will be paying a bond on a parking ramp that has NO leased tenants, and probably won’t for several years.

It’s too bad, because it looks like the rain may be way later or go around us. They also stopped the show last night at 8 PM. But hey, better safe than sorry.

I was looking forward to tonight’s band.

I also have been making some rough estimates of the crowd count. The first show was probably around 1,500 to 2,000 people, since then it has hovered at around 500 people during the week and last night around that 1,000 mark. There has also been plenty of parking and people have told me they haven’t had any trouble finding something close. I have also noticed people are car pooling, which is good.

Here’s some pictures from last week’s shows and some fun last night.

Click to enlarge

UPDATE: Look what a little bitching will get yah. Sorry if I gave the FAB guys crap about this. Looks nice!

There is also another great jazz concert scheduled for tonight! I was actually surprised how good the crowd was for a Wednesday Night, and things are going very smoothly. For this just starting, the Levitt staff and volunteers are knocking it out of the park. GOOD JOB!

I also found out that a local bike club was asked to put in bike racks or at least put their two cents in and are looking to do something more permanent by next year. I was going to take a picture of about 6 bikes last night tied to one light post, made me chuckle. Bikers are always innovative when they need to be.

I noticed that the developer of the Cascade has been using city property in Falls Park West as staging ground for the development. I wonder if the developer is leasing the property while using it and if they will repair the cover when done at their expense?

I find it ironic that the citizen taxpayers held this land for over a decade, collecting NO taxes on it for the developer and now they are using more of the property. They also received a large TIF for the project. These apartments are not workforce housing, these are market rates. The studios go for $895 a month and single bedrooms go for $1,200 a month, hardly ‘affordable’ housing. So what really is the city getting in return for the TIF? Well like most TIFs in Sioux Falls, not a damn thing except higher property taxes for the rest of us especially with another opt-op looming for the county and the SFSD. It’s time for us to end the corporate welfare practice of TIFs.

I guess I really am a f’ing dummy, I found this rack by the old Parks and Rec building. It’s obviously temporary and not even staked to the ground. With the around $4 million dollar investment made into Levitt you would think permanent bike racks closer to concert grounds and more visible would have been installed, hopefully by next year. Either that or another $25 million dollar TIF for another DT parking ramp we don’t need.

I also got a chuckle out of Lloyd’s sponsored concrete pad. I guess they blew their wad on the sponsorship itself because it looks like they pulled a Banksy with a couple cans of spray paint and cardboard stencil. Hey, who says our local developers don’t keep up with the latest artistic trends?

Yes, the Levitt has some kinks to work out, but it seemed on Saturday night they already fixed one of them (putting the wristband stand next to the beverage stand). They still need to work on the bike rack situation though.

Other than that, the most amazing thing I saw both nights was community coming together. Unlike the Pavilion or Denty or even the Midco Aquatic Center, you can go to the Levitt without a ticket and possibly see 30 concerts this year and 50 next year FOR FREE! The great part about it is, if you don’t like the act, you can leave and not feel cheated.

As for parking, I think there was plenty. I saw people walking to the event from 6th street and 8th street, and there seemed to be plenty of parking in the Raven lot. There isn’t a parking issue. I also think the Levitt volunteers did a great job of directing traffic and parking in the area.

As for the music, both nights were fantastic, especially last night. The band that performed was world class, and I enjoyed meeting them and chatting with them after the show. It was funny because I told three of the members that their trumpet player hits the notes perfectly (she is with the baby in the picture below) they laughed and joked with her saying something like “We told you so!”

I also got to meet the daughter of the Levitt founders, I got shoved into a photo with her to (God knows where that will show up!)

I think the crowds will get more diverse once more people realize the events are free (they will even borrow you a lawn chair!)

While I would still like to see BYOB, I think the adult beverage handlers (JJ’s) did a good job!

I would like to personally thank first the taxpayers of Sioux Falls for this amazing financial support and gift, like I often say some of the best things in SF are free to use, like the bike trail.

I would also like to thank the vision of Tom Dempster and Jennifer and Joe Kirby, and lastly all the hard work Nancy Halverson put in, Levitt SF really was lucky to bring her back and have her run this organization.

SIDENOTE: Please Sioux Falls, I know the previous Mayor started this trend, but it needs to end, especially now that we have a Graphic Designer as Mayor, STOP USING ALL CAPS HELVETICA ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS!