SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Critics of the $50 million hotel parking ramp project in Sioux Falls failed to delay it Tuesday night, but still, apparently got something they wanted.
City Council voted 5-3 to reject a repeal of the bonding authority for the city's part of the project, but the Huether Administration said that Aaron Hultgren would no longer be associated with the project.
A father's emotional plea to Council may have had something to do with it.
"When this body voted to partner with Aaron Hultgren and Legacy Development on a $50 million parking ramp and hotel project, we were bewildered, angry, and frustrated," said Mike Fodness, whose daughter, Emily, was rescued from the rubble of the Copper Lounge building collapse downtown. Hultgren Construction was refurbishing the building when it came down in 2016, bringing the Fodness loft apartment above down with it.
A federal investigation of Hultgren Construction's connection to the downtown collapse was just one more reason for Councilor Theresa Stehly and other ramp project critics to try to delay it since Hulgren was associated with the new development.
So, according to the city, Hultgren is out, but the project itself will move forward on schedule.
