Mansion owner makes last pleas to stop Sioux Falls demolition

Following request for injunction, Vitaliy Strizheus takes case to City Council

(Jay Pickthorn / for The Dakota Scout)

In the final days leading up to a scheduled demolition of a Sioux Falls mansion, the property owner is pleading with city officials to stay the structure’s execution.

Vitaliy Strizheus Tuesday night took his objections to a Feb. 27 demolition order for his 6800 S. Westfield Trail property to the City Council, requesting councilors stop Mayor Paul TenHaken’s administration from razing the structure he’s been building — off and on — in the Prairie Hills neighborhood for the last decade.

“To tear this house down would be a tremendous devastation for my family,” Strizheus said during the public input portion of the City Council’s weekly meeting at Carnegie Town Hall.

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Vitaliy Strizheus and attorney Jeana Goosmann address the Sioux Falls City Council Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (Joe Sneve / The Dakota Scout)