SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sioux Falls will soon be home to one of the largest murals in South Dakota. 

On Wednesday, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken announced plans for a new mural to fill the gray wall on the 10th Street parking ramp in downtown Sioux Falls. 

You can view what the parking ramp and the future mural will look like in the photos above.

Officials said they hope the mural will be finished before snow flies in Sioux Falls.

After opening in July of 2020, the parking ramp has been a bit of a dull feature in downtown Sioux Falls with its big gray wall. Now a local artist is looking to add some color to it.

Walter Portz will paint a mural and receive unanimous approval by the Visual Arts Commission.

“We came to this idea that we need something bright and accessible to everyone,” Portz said. “Accessible to children, people driving by and so we came to a bright, colorful mural with a kind of very minimalist design to it.”

In the painting, you’ll find iconic Sioux Falls landmarks like the cathedral and the clock tower.

If you want a feel for Portz’s artistic work, just head over to the Levitt at the Falls where he created a mural earlier this summer.

However, at 72 feet tall and 42,000 square feet, the parking garage mural will be Portz’s largest endeavor.

“I’m a little terrified but that’s OK. It’s part of the skateboarder in me, like let’s just go for it. We can get it done,” Portz said.

“I still, as I stand here, have no idea how this can get done. And that’s what makes artists incredible at their craft,” TenHaken said. “They see something like this and get excited and look at the possibilities.”

Portz believes the painting will only take about three to four weeks to complete. The mural is being funded through a $30,000 gift that Marketbeat is giving the Washington Pavilion which the Pavilion will then use to pay Portz for his work.

The parking ramp has a troubled history. The parking ramp is the only part of a proposed 15-story complex that would have been the tallest building in Sioux Falls. The project was announced in November of 2017. By May 14, 2019, the city terminated a development agreement and ground lease for the Village on the River project with the Village River Group. 

TenHaken hopes the mural is the last step before development can finally happen on this property.

“Obviously the end goal is to have a development on this property. That will happen when the market is ready for it to happen and interest rates, inflation, the development climate is different than it was even a couple years ago,” TenHaken said. “So by no way is putting a mural on this an indicator that we’re giving up on this property. It’s actually the opposite, I think it’s going to make it even more attractive and marketable.”