Washington Pavilion

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What ever happened to the Pavilion Roof?

l3wis September 16, 2025 0Comments

We do know the roof was repaired, we just don’t know what it cost, who paid for the repairs, who damaged the roof, when the repairs occurred and who was contracted to do it.

I have been working with a local journalist to try to get this information and he was getting nowhere with Vanessa in charge of media for the city. So I told them to say this to Vanessa;

‘We know the repairs were done and we are going to run a story with the information we have. If you would like to clarify anything, now is your opportunity or we will run as is.’

A former councilor used to say this in executive session all the time; ‘Either give me the information I am seeking or I will come up with my own set of facts.’

We know the work was done, so why isn’t the city or the local MSM telling us? Good question.

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‘Cashless’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

l3wis August 18, 2025 4Comments

So the Pavilion, who is running the Lodge restaurant and bar at Jacobsen’s Plaza, has decided to go ‘cashless’. Not sure that is such a great idea considering a lot of people like to pay cash for a single cocktail or beer, but hey, I ain’t running the joint. So a compromise was to put in cash vending machines in the bathroom hallway (they also take credit cards). So I bought a pop with my debit card from the machine. According to the text on the machine there would be a 10 cent fee to use my card so the price would be $3.10. Well imagine my surprise when I just happened to look at my bank statement that night. They charged me $4.50! A $1.50 CC transaction fee! This is ridiculous. I already informed some city staff and hopefully they will address it.

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More Public Art, another critique

l3wis June 4, 2025 2Comments

My first critique of the sculptures is something everybody has been saying that have seen it ‘There is too much crap in that space and it just looks like the lawn sculpture garden on Cleveland Avenue’. Besides the overcrowding I would have done one of two things with the sculptures. The pieces themselves are beautiful and I think they will withstand the rigors of SD weather (I have a wait an see on that one, glass doesn’t do well in hail and subzero temps). I would have either spaced out the existing sculptures more or I would have made the bases narrower to make more space between the pieces. It goes back to the overcrowding in that space and it looks like the space between the pieces was compromised. But hey when you hire Mark Cotter’s kid with a lawnmower to prepare the site, what do you expect? I even saw them hauling in a bunch of trees today.

Speaking of city projects, looks like the ice ribbon is finally getting poured.

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Nepotism run amuck at Sioux Falls City Hall

l3wis May 15, 2025 5Comments

Besides the secretive roof repair happening at the Pavilion they are also installing new outdoor sculptures.

Besides COS Erica Beck’s son getting a job in HR straight out of college, there seems to be some other nepotism and conflicts going on. There was a rumor for awhile that the Public Works Director’s wife who owns an interior design company got the contract for the redesign on city hall recently (that is a rumor I am still looking into), but his son, who owns Urban Oasis, apparently got the contract to install the sculptures. His father makes $232K a year with the city, so it seems a bit odd that he would need even more from the taxpayers. Now they could argue that the sculptures purchase and installation was paid for by a private donation so there is NO conflict, BUT, as I argued in the past that since these sculptures are sitting on public property, they are public art, and the taxpayers will be responsible for their future maintenance, this is a public project NO matter who is paying for it because we own the property the sculptures are being placed on. There are plenty of experienced landscape contractors in Sioux Falls who could have done the job, and with more then a couple years experience. This was clearly an inside handshake deal. I wonder what the city council will do about it. My guess, like the Selberg incident, they will look the other way.

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UPDATE: Pavilion ‘Roofgate’ continues

l3wis May 13, 2025 2Comments

UPDATE: Apparently the contractor doesn’t seem to care if anyone knows they are working on the building, so why hasn’t the Pavilion said anything? It is also preparing the NE corner for the new outdoor sculptures, so I am sure there will be a ribbon cutting once installed, and it would be kind of weird to see contractors working on the roof that was supposed to be fixed already.

Last week a person who works very close to the Pavilion told me they have been loading materials (roofing) on the roof with cranes last week and continue to work on it. So I drove by this morning and noticed scaffolding on the roof. There was also 3 commercial trucks parked by the work area; An HVAC contractor, a drywall contractor and a roofing contractor. Notice the logo on the roofing truck. This is a company that specializes in this kind of roof repair. So I’m just wondering, when is the administration going to tell the citizens they are repairing the roof. And who is paying for this? #militantclosedgovernment

What ever happened to the Pavilion Roof?

‘Cashless’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

More Public Art, another critique

Nepotism run amuck at Sioux Falls City Hall

UPDATE: Pavilion ‘Roofgate’ continues

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