The pool
Free since 1929.
A wading pool has stood on this ground for four generations. The newest opened in 2026.
2026 season
Hours and rules
| Season | Late May to late August, weather permitting. The 2026 pool opened May 29. |
|---|---|
| Hours | 1 to 5 p.m. and 6:30 to 8 p.m., daily |
| Cost | Free. It has never charged admission. |
| Depth | Zero-depth entry to a two-foot maximum |
| Features | Two-person slide, spray features, shade structures, expanded deck |
| Bathhouse | Restrooms, an indoor gathering space and a concessions window |
| Rules | Children must be supervised. No glass. No alcohol anywhere in the park. The pool closes for lightning. |
| Questions | Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation, 605-367-7060 · city pool page |
What was built
The 2026 pool
The 2020 master plan called for replacing the 1971 pool, which had about 2,900 square feet of water, with a zero-depth pool of up to 3,000 square feet, comparable to Drake Springs. Stockwell Engineers designed it and showed it to neighbors at the shelter on October 3, 2023: a pool of similar size and a different shape, spray features, a wider slide into deeper water, more deck and shade, and a rebuilt pool house. Ground broke May 21, 2025. The pool opened May 29, 2026, and the city cut the ribbon June 15.
The $4.4 million project drew a gift from Pierce and Barbara McDowell, neighbors of more than 35 years, through the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, which paid for the expanded concessions, shade structures, extra spray features and architectural details. "We love hearing the children laugh and have fun," Pierce McDowell said at the opening.
No photograph of the new pool has been released under an open license yet; the images on this page are the historic pool.
Since 1908
Four pools on one patch of ground.
E. A. Sherman dams a small lake to beautify the new park. Children use it as a swimming hole, and by 1914 a slide into the water lets them "shoot the chutes."
Maurice Stegner, fourteen, cuts his foot on glass while bathing in the lake and dies of lockjaw days later. The story runs in papers across the state.
A permanent concrete wading pool with a fountain is built south and west of the sunken garden. It introduces a generation to swimming and appears on postcards for thirty years.
The city plans a full-size pool. Eighteen residents win an injunction; the federal grant cannot move; a new wading pool is built instead and Frank Olson Park gets the big one in 1972. The 1971 pool serves free for 55 summers.
The zero-depth pool and bathhouse open May 29, free as always.
The marker
The McKennan Park Pond and Wading Pool
The original McKennan Park pond was constructed as a small lake in 1908 by E. A. Sherman to beautify the park. It served as a "swimming hole" until 1929 when a permanent concrete wading pool was built south and west of the Sunken Gardens. This McKennan Park wading pool introduced many children to swimming and included a fountain. It was replaced with a new wading pool in 1971 carrying on the tradition of having a pool in the park.
As a fixture in the park, the McKennan pool holds multigenerational memories for families in Sioux Falls. "Growing up in the 1950-60's, the wading pool was always overflowing with children playing for hours until their skin looked like 'prunes'. Even though the pool was shallow with a rough bottom, we loved creating new water games and enjoyed endless summer fun."
Marker placed by the Friends of McKennan Park Neighborhood Association. All seven markers.