Originally owned by Jacob Olson Dahl, who received a land patent for eighty acres in 1884, the land that became Pioneer Park served as the home of the Brookings County Fair from 1907 until 1922. The city bought the land for $10,000 in 1923, and for a time it was the site of the school's football field. In June 1924, the park board hired Minneapolis landscape architect Charles Ramsdell to design the park. Its Art Deco bandshell was built in 1936 by C.M. Fassett with funding from the Works Progress Administration, and was designed by Lincoln, Nebraska, architect Albert Pugsley, son of SDSU President Charles W. Pugsley. Characterized by stucco, zigzag chevrons, and geometric motifs, the bandshell reflected both the Art Deco style and typical WPA design, while its concrete spherical form sheltered the band and projected music toward the audience. During the Great Depression, social and recreational activities there helped raise morale for Brookings and nearby residents, and since 1972 the park has hosted the Brookings Summer Arts Festival, which draws large crowds each year, while the bandshell continues to be used for weekly summer band concerts.