Boom! Cherapa 2 is a Blast

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The new $160 million development of Cherapa Place 2 in downtown Sioux Falls is beginning to take shape.

Cherapa 2 will be 10-stories tall, but before the developers can start building up, they first have to dig down, which has been a blast.

Construction of Cherapa 2 got off with a bang.

“We started dynamiting shortly after we started the project,” Eric Bender of Journey Construction said.

That was back in November.

Now, Journey Construction is making progress and is right on track.

It’s contracted with an out-of-state company to do the necessary blasting it takes to loosen the quartzite that’s underground here.

Don: “Did you know there was that much quartzite down here?”

“Oh yeah we did, we did a lot of boring and studying of that basically we had to do some change in our designs in some areas where it was so much that it’s just not possible or cost-effective to do,” Cherapa owner Jeff Scherschligt said.

In some places, they say the quartzite is 10 to 15 feet thick.

When complete, Cherapa 2 will consist of three new buildings connected to the current Cherapa Place near the Arc of Dreams.

“I guess the Arc of Dreams is for crazy guys who take a risk and jump over to the other side that’s why there’s a gap in the Arc of Dreams some people might say I’m a little crazy about this but at the same time this is going to transform Sioux Falls and it’s going to show we are a growing progressive community,” Scherschligt said.

Get used to the rumbling, they’ll be blasting for another month and a half making way for buildings three and four.

“On average they’ve been doing one to two blasts per day,” Bender said.

Blasts that are literally earth-shattering.

“Once you get used to it, it’s not so bad, but it’s always fun to feel it when the first one goes,” Bender said.

Don: Dynamite didn’t work too well on the Zip, but it’s working well here?

Jeff: Well yeah it’s underground and it’s busting it up a little different than the Zip Tower

Journey reuses the quartzite in a number of ways. They crush it up for base material under roads and they also use it for decorative landscaping.

The second of the four buildings is scheduled for completion in September of next year.

Original article by Don Jorgensen, KELOLAND NEWS.