Visitors to downtown Sioux Falls will be welcomed by a new quartzite and granite "entrance" that's expected to be completed today.

The display, at 14th Street and Minnesota Avenue, is part of a larger effort to redevelop the intersection during the past few years.

"The corner was basically a dust bowl for the community," said Brian Phelps, the general manager of Jasper Stone Co. "It was an eyesore. We wanted to improve it."

Jasper Stone Co., a division of Sioux Falls' L.G. Everist, approached Stockwell Engineers, which owns the land, and came to a "gentlemen's agreement:" the stone company would install the landscaping project and the engineering firm would construct an office building after securing tenants, Phelps said. The planned office building is being called Cornerstone.

Koch Hazard Architects helped design the building, which will be located on the northeast corner of the intersection, said Jeff Hazard, the chief executive officer of the architectural firm.

"I do know, that as designed, it is a very exciting project and will be a great anchor for the southwest corner of downtown," he said.

Hazard said he isn't certain when construction will begin but said the building is designed to be built in two phases.

Stockwell Engineers has not yet filed for a building permit to start construction, said Shawna Goldammer, the city's zoning enforcement manager.

Calls to Jon Brown, the president of Stockwell Engineers, were not returned Thursday.

When construction begins on the building, the rock landscape - made of Sioux quartzite, Agassiz granite and Dakota prairie glacial stones - probably will be removed from the site and recycled for other uses, said Mark Ernste, who designed the project.

Across 14th Street from the project, construction continues on 14th Street Plaza, a two-tenant retail building beside Get N Go being built by Golden Rule Construction Co. Papa Murphy's will open a new location in the building, which is at the southeast corner of the intersection. Get N Go's original building was demolished, and a new store was built in the same spot in recent years. Sioux Falls-based Olson Oil Co. owns both buildings.

Also at the intersection, the former location of Gigglebee's remains vacant after closing in June 2008. Plans to redevelop the space into office buildings have been discussed.

Reach Molly Young at 331-2370.