Simplified: The city formally opened the Barb Iverson Skate Plaza late last week. The park's namesake, though, wasn't a skater at all, but rather a middle school teacher who became a mentor, advocate and even a maternal figure to generations of Sioux Falls skaters.

Why it matters

  • The 25,000-square-foot skate park is one of the largest in the country and certainly the largest in the region. It cost $2.5 million, including an $800,000 contribution from the city.
  • The park itself was years in the making, and former students of Iverson pointed to a direct line from her advocacy for skaters in the '80s and '90s to this state-of-the-art skate plaza now open today.
  • It was Iverson's former students who initially started the conversation about bringing a large-scale skate park to town, said Alix Johnson, secretary of skate for Let's Skate.
"A lot of us met Barb at a formative time," former student Nicholas Ward said. "She unconditionally loved and supported who we were ... all our faults, and all our quirks, and she loved us."

Tell me more about Barb Iverson

Iverson was a Patrick Henry Middle School teacher who died of cancer at age 71 in 2021. Though not a skater herself, she became a matriarch of the city's skaters because of her willingness to accept them and support their hobbies, former student Jon Rood said.

  • At one point, she even went so far as to invest her own money to build a ramp in her back yard so kids could skate.
  • Iverson later was a driving force and advocate for public skate parks.
"She didn't see us like the rest of Sioux Falls did," Rood said. "She didn't see skaters as outcasts."
Photo credit: Mike Shafer, Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation

Iverson had a gift for connecting with students by meeting them exactly where they were.

"She was like a savant in seeing people," Rood said. "She very easily could look past the surface of what other people saw."

Ward recalled seeing her show up to the skate park with a birthday cake for one of her students. She knew them as much more than skaters.

"She was our friend," Ward said.

Both Ward and Rood noted how easy it would've been for this state-of-the-art skate park to be named after some wealthy donor. But, instead, by naming it after a former teacher, they said it shows the community the resounding impact educators can have.

Tell me more about the skate park

The Barb Iverson Skate Plaza is located at Nelson Park, near Drake Springs pool by the corner of 10th Street and Cliff Avenue.

  • It's designed for skaters of all abilities, including an advanced section, a rock terrace feature, a street plaza lane, and grind rails.

The park is open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Photo credit: Mike Shafer, Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation