Sioux Park Tennis Facility,
                                     Rapid City, SD

                      By Yuliya Grassby and Brad Green

 People of all ages tend to gravitate to parks as places of enjoyment.

These hotspots offer many different recreation options: some you can swim at, play sports at, have a picnic lunch or dinner at, or a spot where you can even enjoy a concert or a theatre production.

 One of the most famous parks in the State of South Dakota is Sioux Park in Rapid City. People from all over the state are well-aware of this park as it is currently in its third incarnation.

 Jason Olson, longtime head boys and girls tennis coach for the Rapid City Stevens Raiders, said the second version of the park was in dire need of a makeover after one of his players and several community members slipped and fell.

 “I honestly felt it was becoming unsafe. After a few injuries happened, we finally had Downtown listening,” he said. “We had Kyle Hansen from FMG (Engineering) come out and conduct a soil study. They hit water fairly quickly. It was like the Clampetts hitting oil on ‘The Beverly Hillbillies.’ I think the whole area used to be swamp land and it was all owned by the Native American tribes. The tribes when they traded the land, they said this can only be used for recreation activities, church activities, senior citizen activities. That’s why if you see the whole Sioux Park area, there’s parks, there’s baseball fields, there’s soccer fields, there’s an activity center with pickleball. There is and was so much water that they probably could irrigate Rapid City with the water in that area.”

 Dr. Lycia Thornburg, the mother of the current Raiders player Arabella Scott, is also the founder of a charity organization called Made for Shade. This organization protects people from skin cancer by providing shade structures on local playgrounds and at sporting events.

In 2016, she and her group donated shade to Parkview Tennis Courts. During a meeting with Dr. Thornburg, Jason Olson, who manages the Rec program the Rapid City tennis courts and is a tennis coach, suggested Sioux Park as a potential location for shade structures from Made for Shade. Dr. Thornburg initially chuckled at the idea, since they had just finished Parkview but agreed to work with her partners and charity to provide shade to Sioux Park.

 “Jason Olson, who runs the Rec program over there and is a tennis coach, said, ‘What about Sioux Park?’ ” she said. “I kind of chuckled and said, “OK. We’ll get you some shade, too. So we gave shade to Sioux Park.”

 The shade structures benefitted members of the community who played tennis at Sioux Park before Dr. Thornburg and Olson talked during the pandemic to discuss their next course of action.

 “Fast forward a couple years, COVID has happened and we’re back on the tennis courts in the fall of 2020,” Thornburg said. “I said to Jason at the end of the season, ‘Do you need more shade for the tennis courts?’ He said, ‘Well, I what we really need are new tennis courts.’”

 After the beginning of 2021, Thornburg recalled starting meeting bi-weekly with representatives from the USTA Northern Section and the Rapid City Parks and Recreation Department to start the process to replace the tennis courts at Sioux Park. She remembers the group getting a $10,000 grant from the USTA that was matched by the City of Rapid City. The money ended up being used toward doing a soil sample of the park.

 Here's a timeline of the new Sioux Park from start to finish:

In April and May of 2021, a group of Rapid City citizens, including tennis players, health professionals, local business owners, and community members, came together around a shared goal: the restoration of the aging tennis courts at Sioux Park. The effort gained momentum through the initiative and steady coordination of Dr. Lycia Thornburg, whose commitment helped move the idea from community conversation to formal advocacy. Dr. Thornburg led this grassroots initiative, working alongside passionate supporters to advocate for meaningful investment in community recreation.

The group began by engaging Mayor Steve Allender and the City Council, presenting a request to allocate $3,340,000 in COVID and CARES Act funds to support the project. A formal presentation was delivered during the May 3, 2021, City Council meeting, and a follow-up letter outlining the request in greater detail was submitted to the Mayor’s office on May 7.

Prior to the City Council presentation, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) awarded a $10,000 grant to support the design and bid process for the Sioux Park project, including a geotechnical study. These funds were deposited into the City’s account and signaled early external validation of the project’s significance.

At the May 3, 2021, meeting, Council members suggested that the group apply for Vision Fund support. That suggestion set in motion a broader collaborative effort. Lycia Thornburg, along with Shannon Thornburg, Yuliya Grassby, and George Grassby, worked closely with the Black Hills Tennis Association, USTA subject matter expert Liz Hamburg, project contact Jason K. Olson, and a large group of engaged community members to prepare and submit the Vision Fund application. The application emphasized the value of local involvement, proposing the use of area vendors to stimulate job growth and align with the City’s Comprehensive Plan for creating a desirable place to live, work, contribute, and play.

On July 22, 2021, the team hand-delivered 16 Vision Fund application binders to the Mayor’s office, each accompanied by a formal cover letter, followed by a digital version shared via email. Letters of support from Black Hills Energy, BHTA, and other stakeholders underscored the project’s broad base of support. The restoration of the Sioux Park tennis courts was positioned not only as an investment in athletic infrastructure, but also as a long-term strategy for promoting active and healthy lifestyles, intergenerational recreation, collaboration with local schools and parks, economic development through tourism, and retention of future residents.

In January 2022, the City Council approved the application and awarded $3 million to the Sioux Park Tennis Restoration Project.

Construction began in late January 2023. The project included installation of 12 new tennis courts, LED sports lighting, seating and shaded structures, fencing and windscreens, improved amenities, and upgraded drainage. Local businesses and individuals contributed generously to the effort, supporting landscaping and site enhancements that helped create a welcoming and vibrant space. Additional USTA grants were submitted and approved to contribute to this project.

The facility reopened to the public on December 20, 2023.

In August 2024, the Sioux Park Tennis Complex received national recognition when it was awarded the USTA Outstanding Facility Award during the US Open in New York. The award honored the project’s thoughtful design, public benefit, and lasting community impact—placing Rapid City among the nation’s leading public tennis venues.

The success of the Sioux Park project reflects the kind of progress that can happen when a community works together with focus and persistence. While many contributed to this outcome, the steady hand and early leadership of Dr. Lycia Thornburg helped bring a shared vision to life.

 Olson talked about being able to convince the Rapid City City Council and how that helped with getting new Sioux Park to be a reality.

 “Greg Strommen from the City Council was a huge advocate for getting it not only done, but done right. There were some people on the City Council that needed to be convinced,” Olson said with a chuckle. “However, I had coached against their kids or had coached their kids. Ron Weifenbach, who was on the City Council, stood up and said, ‘Guys, if Jason believes this needs to be done, with all he’s done for our community and for the youth of the community, through basketball and all these sports, we need to get this done.’ I had talked about bringing in state tournaments and the revenue it would bring in. They (the City Council) voted unanimously to support our project. That started it.”

 Dr. Thornburg was quick to point out her gratitude to Liz Hamburg (SD Tennis HOF Class of 2022) for all the work she did to assist their group during the whole process.

 “Liz was a huge asset,” Thornburg said. “She was on most of our Zoom calls. Whenever there was a situation on how do we navigate it, she would help us to have an approach. She was always there to answer questions and guide us through the process. She’s amazing and given so much to tennis and this community.”

 Kate Barnes, former O’Gorman boys and girls tennis assistant coach, wanted to praise Olson for all of the work he did in making the new Sioux Park a reality.

“Hats off to Jason for the new Sioux Park and all of the time that he has spent in fund-raising efforts,” she said. “He’s put together a very phenomenal facility for Rapid City and for us all to appreciate across the state.”

 Sioux Park is now home to 12 wonderful tennis courts. Court 1 is named in honor of the Paluch Family. Other courts are named after Ron Wood, the Hammerquist Family and Phyllis O’Connor. 

 The park even hosted the 2024 South Dakota Class AA Girls State Tennis Tournament last fall, which Olson’s girls won as they captured their seventh state championship under his guidance.

 Barnes added that the venue is unrivaled for tennis.

 “It’s not only a player’s dream, it’s a coaches’ dream,” she said. “If you stand in a certain area, you’ll be able to visualize and see almost all of the tennis courts at the same time. They really did it up right because they have a stadium area for the highlight, the number 1 marquee event, so that’s really cool. They have adequate parking and really great concessions. It’s very well done.”

 Olson said that he wanted to be a part of the action from start to finish as Sioux Park is a very special place to him.

 “I was going to be involved every step of the way,” he said. “I was going to make sure I was there. This (tennis) has been my life since I played there. I had been running the Park and Rec program since I was 19. Sioux Park means a lot to me. We had to raise so much extra money to get the things installed and built that were cut to get to the awarded amount. The companies involved did a ton of in kind work and donations to make it happen, but none of this happens without Lycia and the support of the City Council!”