Is the Sioux Falls Downtown ‘Glice’ experience an omen?

Besides the fact that the winter wonderland experience was poorly promoted (not announced until the day the festivities started) it really didn’t draw a lot of folks. Even Soo Foo Bizzo Queen had something to say about it;

To be candid, there wasn’t a very big crowd when I stopped by Friday night. I checked in Saturday afternoon, and it was about the same.

Same with Saturday night, at least when we stopped by.

So why was the Glice Arena response so dismal? Because it is cold out. While I make fun of Three Bears ski park for being closed when it is too warm (no snow) and when it is to cold (don’t understand that, the colder the weather the better the snow) maybe the real reason they close is because no one is showing up on the colder days, so why be open?

Not sure why people around here don’t enjoy winter sports more, but hey, as a guy who has been riding bike everyday for the past week, I get it, sometimes it is hard to enjoy yourself when you are freezing your butt off.

We have plenty of indoor ice in Sioux Falls, there really is not reason to skate in the elements.

Which brings us to Jacobsen Plaza. As I have told folks in the 20+ years I have been following city politics I have only had one person mention to me that it would be nice if we had a small refrigerated rink at one of our central Sioux Falls parks. That is the only time I have heard of this ‘need’. Originally only going to be about a $4 million dollar project it has ballooned to about 4x that. Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Will the Jacobsen Plaza see the same dismal participation as the glice arena? Not sure. But if I was a guessing man, it seems we will have a really nice ice river to look at while driving by on Phillips in your car.

Isn’t it fun watching a bunch of rich people decide what our PUBLIC recreation looks like? Make sure you wear your coat and hat and grab those ankles, this is not only to be cold, it’s gonna hurt.