Photo: Jon Platek, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Downtown Sioux Falls center combining visual arts, a hands-on science center, a planetarium, and performing arts in a historic former high school.
301 S. Main Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 · Sioux Falls, SD
The Washington Pavilion is a downtown Sioux Falls arts and science complex. Its visual arts center has several galleries that show work by local artists, nationally known creators, and Northern Plains Tribal artists. The Kirby Science Discovery Center offers more than 100 interactive exhibits for visitors of all ages, and the Sweetman Planetarium presents films and live shows on a large dome screen. The building is a former high school that opened as this center in 1999 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The organization is a private nonprofit that also runs Broadway series, classes, camps, and cafe and ice cream options on site.
The closest stops to Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Free guided tours of the 1889 Queen Anne home of South Dakota's first U.S. senator in Sioux Falls' Cathedral district, with his own artifact museum attached at the back.
Transit: reachable by public transit
0.4 mi awayMore like this
Two free Sioux Falls history museums: the Old Courthouse Museum and the Pettigrew Home and Museum.
Transit: reachable by public transit
0.5 mi awayMore like this
Free regional history museum in an 1890s quartzite courthouse in downtown Sioux Falls, with three floors of exhibits, a restored courtroom and 16 early-1900s murals.
Transit: reachable by public transit
0.5 mi awayMore like this
Watch the Big Sioux River drop over the falls from viewing platforms and a five-story tower with an outdoor deck.
Transit: reachable by public transit
1.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
A Sioux Falls family entertainment park with go-karts, mini golf, bumper boats and an arcade.
Transit: reachable by public transit
1.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions
See African lions, giraffes, Amur tigers and grizzly bears at Sioux Falls' 45-acre zoo, open all year with a train and carousel for kids.
Transit: reachable by public transit
1.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions
