"RISE" and the Big Sioux River

"RISE" and the Big Sioux River. . After a strong coalition of civic organizations urged the city to build Falls Park and to set up a City Specification Committee within the Chamber of Commerce, such a study was conducted in 1967-68. The subsequent transformation of the appearance and use of the Big Sioux River by the creation of an adjoining public greenway with a wide asphalt bike trail came about mainly through the efforts of those who were active in "RISE," a nonprofit corporation chartered in 1969. Its name was derived from the "River Improvement Study and Evaluation" completed the preceding year., For more than a hundred years, the river and its adjacent land served the young city as a dumping place. During the decade following the organization of RISE, scores of volunteers joined cleanup efforts and removed hundreds of truckloads of debris and discarded rubbish. The corporation also bought or received as gifts many parcels of land next to the river which served to complete a continuous greenway. A design for a bike trail was prepared and dedicated in 1978., RISE supported adoption of a Greenway Master Plan by the Sioux Falls City Commission in 1987. Local leaders played prominent roles in strongly backing the Master Plan as did Northern Natural Gas Company of Omaha; it sponsored six RISE board members to travel to San Antonio, TX, to study that city's recently completed five-mile Riverwalk. Northern also funded the design of a Riverfront Master Plan which helped steer Sioux Falls Parks Department policies for several decades., After 30 years of dedicated effort by hundreds of civic leaders and citizens, the usefulness of RISE gradually diminished, and in 1997 its board voted to disband. A major correction by the community in its perception of the role of the Big Sioux River is a fascinating example of the influence of passionate leaders who have purpose and conviction and who lead the way. The efforts of RISE altered the opinion held by many residents about the uses being made of the Big Sioux River, changed the direction of community growth, and brightened the lives of thousands. Local citizens may thank Roy Duke Nyberg and Hazel O'Connor for their years of tireless effort which eventually led to the creation of two of the city's greatest assets, a public greenway and a hard-surfaced bike trail that stretches out in a nearly 20-mile loop. Both of these city treasures lie alongside the Big Sioux River.