It’s been years since the broader Moody County community has truly had access to a gym.
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe (FSST), for many years, offered free memberships to anyone with a Moody County address, up until the pandemic and the opening of a marijuana growing operation where the gym once stood.
Since then, many have said a lack of fitness options has been one of the county’s biggest quality-of-life gaps.
That’s about to change.
In the past year, FSST reopened a small gym inside the tribal community center for tribal members. Flandreau Public Schools also began offering public access to its weight room for a small fee.
And in the coming months, two more gyms will open: one in the new addition at Colman-Egan Schools and another inside the expansion of the Boys and Girls Club of Moody County, set to open within weeks.

At this past week’s Flandreau City Council meeting, $15,000 in unrestricted funding was approved to help purchase equipment for the Boys and Girls Club’s gym and weight room that will be open to the general public during designated hours.
“We really are trying to increase the opportunities for healthy lifestyles in our community and give access to a wider array of folks … allowing for the ability to have special classes, and workout groups... and this all stems from conversations even three years ago when the club was developing its expansion project and we asked the community what it needs,” said City Administrator Cohl Turnquist.
A public space to work out and improve health was the consistent answer, Turnquist said.
Council members unanimously approved the funding after touring the new space and seeing its potential to serve Flandreau and the broader Moody County community.
The Colman-Egan School District hopes to open its new gym and workout area later this summer or ahead of the 2025-26 school year.
Also from the Flandreau City Council:
● A resolution was approved to enter into an agreement with the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe on a ½ undivided interest in Lot 1 of the Booster Club Addition, where the future Early Childhood Enrichment Center will be built.
● Pavement improvements are coming to the far west end of the public schools complex.
● After concerns about lifeguard staffing, the city announced that enough guards have been hired to open the pool on schedule for the summer. Fourteen guards and other staff are now approved, with former local guard Grace Krull set to manage the pool this year.
● Council members also reviewed newly revised FEMA floodplain maps and discussed steps needed to certify that a number of properties are no longer impacted by floodwaters.