Lalley: Family poured passion into historic home now facing demolition

John and Kimberly Pederson bought the house near Sanford Medical Center campus in 1991 and eventually placed it on the National Register of Historic Places.

John Pederson talks about the improvements he made when his family lived in the house 628 W. 20th St. in Sioux Falls during the 1990s, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live)

John and Kimberly Pederson flip through an album of photos from the early years of their family.

The snapshots are misty mirrors of the hopes and dreams of the past, the kind we all collect of toddlers and Christmas trees and bright summer days.

For the Pedersons, there also are pictures of cracks in the walls, a little water damage on the ceiling, a light switch plate and stripping years of paint from a hardwood door. Building a fence, a pile of concrete, the lush spring lawn and the sagging porch before John fixed it.

And all the stories that go with them.

This was their first house: 628 W. 20th St.

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