Construction vital to the indoor aquatic center in Sioux Falls will shut down Western Avenue for three days. Gear up for detours and delays.

Starting Tuesday, May 26, Western Avenue will be closed at 24th Street. The barricades are expected to be in place until early Friday morning May 29.

Underlying circumstances for this phase of the project is so that an appropriate amount of water going in and out will properly service the facility at Spellerberg Park. Lance Weatherly who is a Civil Engineer with the City of Sioux Falls said, “The work that we’re going to be doing is excavation in the intersection. This is necessary to install the water and the sanitary sewer connections for the new indoor aquatic center.”

The 24th Street connection with Western Avenue is ground zero to access the water and sewer connection and install larger pipe. For the old pool a four-inch main was utilized. Weatherly said they need a six-inch main for a couple of reasons. “This indoor aquatic center has two swimming needs: a 50-meter lap pool and a recreational component. Because this is also a building, there’s a fire suppression sprinkler system meaning a larger need for water service.”

Since the street will be torn up to perform this work, a detour will be in place. Traffic that would normally use Western Avenue will be sent to Kiwanis Avenue using 26th and 22nd Streets.

Weatherly says water service to adjacent homes and businesses will not be affected. “The city’s water system has a multitude of valves in it. We’re able to valve this off and isolate so (customers) should not experience any interruption with water service related to this work.”

If all goes well, the building will be enclosed by the winter of 2015. Anticipated opening of the aquatic center is the fall of 2016.

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