Jodi’s Journal: A walk in the park underscores power of giving back

Trust me: Garry Jacobson did his best to avoid me capturing him on camera for this piece.

I’d attempt a subtle snapshot, and he’d attempt to jump out of frame right before I clicked.

Most of the time, he succeeded. As you see above, at least a couple of times he didn’t — hopefully we’re still friends after this.

Jacobson prefers to keep a low profile, but as we took a walk recently through the almost completed Jacobson Plaza that bears his family’s name, I was reminded of the powerful message their gift provides.

The new downtown amenity opened to huge crowds last week.

But Jacobson has been there since hard hats were still required. Part tour guide, part construction observer and full-time committed donor, I suspect that as it got closer to the finish line he was making almost daily trips there when he was in town.

“I think it’s turning out wonderful,” he said. “Phase one is fabulous, and hopefully phase two will be done next fall.”

Phase two?

That’s right. One of the reasons he has been showing so many people the park is because he’s hoping to find more donor support to finish off green space down to Fourth Avenue in front of the Canopy by Hilton and build connections down to the Big Sioux River to fully tie Jacobson Plaza into the River Greenway.

“It’ll be picnic areas and rest areas, sidewalks, and I think it’ll be great,” he told me. “My vision is play areas in the grass and picnic tables where your kids could be at the plaza all day and have a picnic supper and go to a Levitt concert.”

Jacobson is quick to point out that the plaza itself was not his actual vision. His was simpler and ultimately more powerful than that: He began this journey looking for a way to give back to the community.

So he reached out to the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, which knew of several items on the city of Sioux Falls’ wish list — especially through its Parks & Recreation Department.

It led to a meeting with the foundation, Jacobson and Mayor Paul TenHaken, who detailed a list of about 10 projects in a half-dozen locations that might be of interest to the donor and his family.

“I didn’t want to build a building,” Jacobson told me. “Buildings get old and fall down. I want to do something that’s lasting. We had a great lunch, and I looked at all the things, and I told the mayor I’ve got an idea. I said I’d like to do the ice ribbon, and I really want to do the inclusive playground, and I’d like to do it in this area downtown. And I think he was overwhelmed, and he wasn’t expecting it.”

He laughed recounting the story of how the mayor said the city attorney’s office would be able to draw up a contract.

“I said, ‘I don’t need a contract, mayor. I need to shake your hand, and that will be our contract.’”

Let’s just say from that handshake to the ribbon-cutting that will follow later this month, things grew a bit.

The initial conversation revolved around a $4 million project. I think it will top out at more than $20 million in a mix of public and private funds. In addition to the largest playground in the region — the next closest is in Omaha — Jacobson Plaza hosts the city’s largest splash pad thanks to a donation from Jacobson’s friend Denny Sanford.

“He loves it. He’s already been down three or four times with me to eat,” Jacobson said.

The Craig and Pat Lloyd family contributed next, funding Pawsible Park for dogs, and I’ve thought many times in the past few weeks of how much Craig Lloyd, who died in January, would have loved this plaza.

This probably never would have been built to this scale if business leaders like this hadn’t chosen to give back to their community.

That’s the story here, and it’s one Jacobson has become more and more motivated to share as he has watched the plaza take shape.

“It’s not about me at all,” he said. “It’s about people sharing and giving to the community, sharing with the people that made them successful. There’s been a number of super-successful people in Sioux Falls, and they need to recognize where their success came from. Success didn’t come from them. It came from the customers. That’s the best part of payback.”

He reflected with me on his first years in business — a time when “we either had to keep the business open or eat, and we chose to keep the business open,” and on how as time went on, the community supported his business, Malloy, which rebuilds some of industry’s largest electric motors and industrial equipment.

It’s coincidentally fitting when you think about it. A motor powers equipment. A gift like this is going to help power this community by injecting a big, fun new reason for those of all ages to spend time downtown.

I asked Jon Jacobson — no relation — senior principal at landscape architecture firm Confluence about the impact a large-scale park improvement can have in a community.

“It’s huge,” he said. “And from a philanthropic standpoint, it’s very important because it lends credence to the fact that the city, the Parks Foundation and donors like the Jacobson family can all work together to promote a positive vision for the community.”

It also shows what’s possible as Falls Park further develops into a signature park not just locally but regionally or even nationally, he said.

“Every day of the year, no matter what time of day you go to Falls Park, there’s something to do,” he said. “The redevelopment of that whole area began with Phillips to the Falls, and the plaza is kind of the nucleus that was missing. It’s the activity hub that’s now going to make it a seamless area.”

It also hopefully will energize future redevelopment of the Falls Park Farmers Market area, the future Stockyards Plaza and other improvements identified in the park’s master plan.

Jacobson pointed up the hill to the west as we sat outside on the plaza.

Think of the potential to bring kids down here from some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city, he told me. He’s already contemplating how to support them once they arrive at the plaza.

He’s excited to watch his own great-grandchildren start to play here.

And he’s not entirely sure how much he has donated already.

“But whatever it was, it was worth it,” he said. “It’s a blessing to give. Share with your family, but share with your citizens too.”

It probably was the timing of the conversation, just ahead of Independence Day, but I couldn’t help but appreciate the symbolism of an entrepreneurial success story giving back to a community.

When this part of downtown was under construction, Craig Lloyd hung a huge American flag overlooking it from the parking ramp at The Steel District. I wrote about it at the time.

He meant it as a simple statement of patriotism.

Jacobson Plaza serves as one today too — of what’s possible when government partners with people who view their success as owed to those who have supported them along the way. We have the freedom to succeed in this country, Jacobson reminded me. We also have the opportunity to share our success in ways that build community.

Remember, there’s still phase two to go here — and hopefully that’s just the start.

Sneak preview: Jacobson Plaza opens next week

The post Jodi’s Journal: A walk in the park underscores power of giving back appeared first on SiouxFalls.Business.