Beginning in 1924,[2] orphans in eastern South Dakota had been homed at the Little Flower orphanage and school in Turton, 160 miles (260 km) north of Sioux Falls.

[4] Immediately after the fire, the orphans were temporarily housed at Lincoln Hall on the Northern State University campus in nearby Aberdeen before being moved to Woonsocket in July.

[2] The Presentation Order of Sisters, a Roman Catholic mission, had a school there,[5] but the situation was again temporary, and the former Columbus College building in Sioux Falls hosted the children beginning on July 16, 1934.

Boys were sent to the vacant residence of the Bishop Bernard Mahoney, who had previously passed away; and girls were sent to a parochial school in nearby Bridgewater.

[3] The WPA and City of Sioux Falls donated half of the estimated cost—$20,000—to the cause, and the Presentation Order of Sisters held multiple charity drives over the next year to match this amount and complete construction.

Struggle to raise these funds during the Great Depression caused completion to be delayed much longer than originally intended; construction lasted from November 10, 1938, to July 26, 1940.

Additionally, the city later reduced the contract time from 99 to only 15 years and set a monthly maximum of $20 to be allocated to the care of each child, when cost was not covered by the Presentation Order themselves.

[18] These included the Sioux Falls Elks Lodge,[19][20] Knights of Columbus,[21] Junior Chamber of Commerce,[22] Disabled American Veterans,[23] Catholic Daughters of the Americas,[24] El Riad Shriners,[25] John Morrell & Company,[26] and the Otakuye Club of the Young Women's Christian Association.

[14] The home officially closed on September 2 of that year and the Presentation Sisters entered talks with the city to repurpose the building for education.

It sits on a concrete foundation at the corner of South Western Avenue and 15th Street in central Sioux Falls and faces east.

The main entrance protrudes from the front façade; an arched doorway leads to a set of recessed doors, above which is a block of concrete carved with circular motifs.

The basement contained a playroom that was used when the weather was not adequate for outside recess; otherwise, the children were allowed to play outside on over 80 acres (32 ha) of yard area.