• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- After decades of meandering through industrial factories, warehouses and the state's tallest feed tower, the downtown Sioux Falls stretch of the Big Sioux River is undergoing a substantial makeover.
• Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on the second phase of the $8 million Big Sioux River Greenway project, which has upgraded the river's east bank through three city blocks with an amphitheater, stepped river edges, a widened bicycle path and pedestrian bridges.
• That's a big change for an area that has housed a coal and wood yard, a fruit company, several agricultural implement dealers and a nondescript parking garage that hovered over the waterway, said Tory Miedema, the city's park development specialist.
• "Going back quite a few years, all the businesses down there kind of turned their backs on the Big Sioux River and didn't really use it as an amenity and an attraction," he said. "We saw that it was a very important piece and made us unique from a lot of different cities in the nation. The goal was to get people to use it."
• The project's $4.4 million first phase, which was completed in June, rebuilt the river's east bank between 6th and 8th streets. The centerpiece is an amphitheater that allows summer concertgoers to relax on the grass or quartzite benches and listen to bands performing in front of the river's backdrop. Workers also improved ac

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