'Making lemonade': With no deal close, City Hall opts to cover barren downtown parking ramp with art

Mural going up in September signals Sioux Falls' struggle to find partner, finish former Village on the River project

An art mural that’ll soon cover the seven-story barren wall of gray concrete that towers over downtown Sioux Falls is an indicator officials here aren’t anywhere near getting the former Village on the River complex completed.

City Hall and Sioux Falls-based financial media company MarketBeat announced Wednesday that a sponsorship deal has been reached to have an abstract city skyline painted on the south-facing façade of the city-owned parking ramp at 110 S. Mall Ave.

It comes from a $30,000 donation from MarketBeat. And while MarketBeat founder and philanthropist Matt Paulson told The Dakota Scout that no promises were made when it comes to how long the mural will remain up, market conditions, high interest rates and economic uncertainty have yielded tepid interest from the private sector in finishing the commercial elements of the mixed-use parking ramp facility originally envisioned at the site.

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