Believe it or not, like the new Hockey Ice Center, I support the expansion of Great Bear. I think that Great Bear has proven with it’s attendance numbers, it is very popular and worthy of capital dollars;
The staff at Great Bear is celebrating a big step towards expanding the popular slopes.
“Our last expansion was in 2000. Back then we were seeing 22,000 visits a year. Last year, we did 43,000,” General Manager Dan Grider said.
Tuesday night, they presented the master plan to the city parks board and received overwhelming approval.
As I have stated in the past, recreation projects in Sioux Falls that are ‘needed’ will have usage, and hopefully financial sustainability, like the city golf courses. I will confess that I was a little leery about supporting the expansions in the past of Great Bear, but have changed my tune. I have never expected our city parks or bike trail to make money, they are amenities that can be used at no charge. But I do think the recreational facilities such as the Ice-plex and Great Bear should generate enough revenue to sustain.
Congrats to Great Bear on the expansion!