Grandview Park sits amidst the central Sioux City hills, with a spectacular view of much of the city from the highest points in the park. As promised, there's a grand view!
Grandview Park Basic Facts
Grandview Park sits on 32 acres, roughly between McDonald to the west, Douglas Street to the east, 24th street to the south, and Stone Park Boulevard to the north, while Grandview Boulevard winds through the park. The park has been open to visitors since 1908 when it was opened as Grand View Park.
Grandview Park Bandshell
The star of Grandview Park is its bandshell. The art deco masterpiece was built as part of the civilian works administration, and its beautiful appearance to this day is a testament to their hard work.
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| When no performance is happening, you can climb on stage yourself! |
CWA Project 217, aka the Grandview Park Bandshell, was designed by local architect Henry Kamphoefner and was completed and dedicated in 1935. Since then, the bandshell has been home to the Monahan Post Band (which became the Sioux City Municipal Band in 1948.) The Sioux City Municipal Band continues to perform concerts at the bandshell on Sunday evenings in summer!
The bandshell is also home to Sioux City's biggest music festival, Saturday in the Park. The annual festival, originally conceived as a blues festival, now features a wide variety of musical genres and draws crowds of 25,000+ to Grandview Park each year! The free festival is held on the Saturday closest to the Fourth of July, and after the concert is Sioux City's best fireworks show. Some of the most notable acts to come to SITP since it started in 1991 include Blues Traveler, Aretha Franklin, the Wallflowers, Michelle Branch, Kacey Musgraves, Bonnie Raitt, Cee Lo Green, Ben Harper, Santana, Sublime, Melissa Etheridge, Counting Crows, and BB King.
Grandview Park Rose Garden
Playground
Near the Stone Park Boulevard entrance to Stone Park sits a playground with climbing structure. There is a public bathroom across the park road from the playground. Each spring, the grounds near the playground are home to Sioux City's biggest Easter Egg hunt!
The Grandview Park Water Towers
Grandview Park was home to two large cylindrical water towers, connected by a small tunnel, for more than a century. The two water towers are being torn down in 2021 to be replaced by an alternate water tower or water pump station. The original water towers were well-known as one of the best canvases for street art in Sioux City, covered in colorful paintings.
Other features of Grandview Park
Grandview Park previously included a disc golf course, which was torn down as part of the water tower replacement project in 2021. If that course is restored when the project is over, I will try to update with that info!
Another famous feature of Grandview Park is a statue of Abraham Lincoln, located at the park entrance on 24th Street.
Lincoln stands 7 feet 10 inches tall on a 7 foot tall base and both were sculpted by Granville Hastings out of Minnesota granite. The statue and base were donated to the park in 1924 by John and Elizabeth Magoun.
For more information
To find out more about Grandview Park, check out the Sioux City Parks and Recreation website or the Sioux City History site!
Or to find out about other parks in Sioux City, check out my guide to city parks in Sioux City!
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