Get a look at two education-related projects that start construction this week

Megan Raposa -

Simplified: Two big projects – both with ties to education – broke ground this week in Sioux Falls. First was the new Boys & Girls Club addition to George McGovern Middle School, and then Friday is the groundbreaking for the new Dakota State University Applied Research Lab. Here's a look at both projects.

Why it matters

  • Both new buildings bring an extension to existing educational offerings. Boys & Girls Club will give kids another option for after-school care, and the DSU facility will give its students a place to work in the cybersecurity field after graduation.
  • The Boys & Girls Club addition at George McGovern Middle School allows kids to go directly from school to an after-school program without needing transportation – a model school officials have said could potentially be replicated at other schools across the city.
  • The DSU Applied Research Lab will be located off of Westport Avenue in northwest Sioux Falls. It will bring a new industry to the Sioux Falls business community with a facility that could house as many as 400 cyber professionals.
"What we're building is a real hub of high-tech excellence and emerging technologies that will act as a magnet (to bring people to the community)," DSU President José-Marie Griffiths said.

Here's a closer look at the Boys & Girls Club addition

The new "Club at George McGovern" will be a 16,000-square-foot facility including a STEAM classroom, a multi-purpose gym, a teaching kitchen and social spaces.

"With the ability to serve hundreds of students each day, this facility represents our commitment to supporting the holistic development of children and teens in our community," CEO Stacy Jones said.

Here are some renderings:

Here's a closer look at the DSU Applied Research Lab

Despite its ties to the university, the lab is not an academic building, but rather for full-time working professionals in the cyber field.

"Dakota State University is putting Sioux Falls and South Dakota on the cutting edge of cyber technology and allowing us not only to keep our best and brightest but to recruit new high tech high paying jobs to the region," Sioux Falls Development Foundation President and CEO Bob Mundt.

The space itself is inspired by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab – particularly a two-story atrium at the entrance of the new DSU building.

  • And because of the nature of the cybersecurity work, the building won't be open to the general public and will have security measures in place.
"It won't look like a lab underground," Griffiths said. "It'll look very sleek with a lot of glass."

Here's a closer look at some renderings: