(Editor's note: This is just one part of a series of stories about local candidates in the upcoming June 2 primary, municipal and school board election. Find more coverage here.)
Simplified: The announcement that Smithfield is moving out of downtown Sioux Falls is one of the most significant changes to the city in recent history. It also opens up more than 100 acres for redevelopment in the city's core. Sioux Falls Simplified asked all City Council candidates how they plan to lead the city through the next steps in planning for the future of that space.
Here's what we asked:
What’s your vision for the future "Sanford District" and of downtown overall after Smithfield moves out, and, perhaps more importantly, how do you plan to approach decision-making for what goes in that site?
Here's what candidates had to say (in reverse alphabetical order):
Sara Pankonin
"If you ask me what my vision is for the space, I wouldn't be the best person to have that vision," Pankonin said. "But if you ask me what might we run into here that we're not thinking about? Or if you brought to me eight different people's ideas and they needed to be melded into one, I would be able to kind of pull those together."
Pankonin also added that downtown "might need a convention area."
Is this story helping you feel smarter about the 2026 election? Support Sioux Falls Simplified in bringing smarter, easier local news to our community.
Brady Kerkman
"I would go back to my district, southeast, and I would probably do a poll, getting input on what is important to them," Kerkman said. "One thing that would be very important to me is making sure we have more green spaces, parks, things of that nature.
"Obviously, parking is always an issue. We want to address that parking, but we want to make sure that when we do that strategically, so we don't have these big parking ramps that are taking away from the natural beauty."
Michael Crane
Crane shared the example of his time on school board when the district planned to build Roosevelt High School and move Washington High School out of downtown (the current Washington Pavilion site). He recalled the community input and planning process that went into that and said something similar could be done for downtown.
"I would be supportive of a very thorough community dialogue on what should go there – and not only what should go there, but how we integrate that to the rest of downtown," Crane said, later adding, "and then we have to go back periodically and assess and make adjustments based on what's happening in the marketplace. It's a continuous process."
