Oct. 6, 2022

The Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History and the Butterfly House & Aquarium plan to become one organization and build a new butterfly conservatory and aquarium on the zoo’s campus.

“This is a very exciting day for us,” said Becky Dewitz, the zoo’s president and CEO.

“You’ll have a regional destination here in Sioux Falls where you can come to one place and visit the zoo animals, the aquarium and the butterfly conservatory whether it’s wintertime or summertime.”

The zoo, which encompasses 45 acres, has a significant amount of undeveloped land, Dewitz said. The organization is working with the city on a master plan for land before determining where the new facility will be located.

That will included an aquarium three times bigger than what could have been accommodated at Sertoma Park, with potential exhibits such as a shark reef with a tunnel for visitors underneath.

“We have so much we’re excited about,” said Audrey Otto-Pepper, CEO of the Butterfly House & Aquarium.

“There will be much more news to share in the coming months. We know coming together we’re able to build an aquarium and a butterfly conservatory to a larger scale than we could do as the Butterfly House and Aquarium.”

Both organizations also are out of space for staff and visitors, and will benefit from more areas for education and field trips.

“I don’t think we realize how incredible this is going to be for our community,” Mayor Paul TenHaken said. “It’s very rare that two organizations and two boards can agree on something of this size and scale.”

The enhanced facility also will be a tourist draw, including for Sioux Falls-area residents who might have gone to Omaha otherwise, he added.

“The city is very, very supportive of this move, not only because it fiscally makes sense and makes sense for our community, but there’s great leaders leading this with great boards. … They are looking at the greater good of our community, and I’ve just been very proud to be a partner with them in this.”

The hope is to be moved into the new facility by the end of 2025.

There’s no immediate plan for the current facility at Sertoma Park, but “we’re working through that with the partners already on the campus as well as what the community would like to see at that location,” TenHaken said.

The Butterfly House & Aquarium has raised $4.2 million toward its capital campaign to expand aquarium exhibits, which can be applied toward the project, Otto-Pepper said.

“And we know there are many more interested in making this a reality for Sioux Falls, so there will be a fundraising campaign starting in 2023, and we’ll be working through those logistics once we are officially one organization, and that will help us start construction.”