Memorial Park Promenade first step on the path, not the final destination

Statement of Friends of Rapid City Parks to Rapid City Council, May 7, 2012.

Friends was founded in 2005 to advocate for our parks. We have more than 100 members and have mobilized up to 300 supporters on issues affecting the parks. Tonight we are speaking in support of the proposal by Destination Rapid City to create the Memorial Park Promenade. This is a creative and generous idea, the most recent of many aimed at connecting the heart of our park system with the heart of downtown.

We applaud Destination Rapid City for their initiative and wish them every success in this appropriate addition to Memorial Park. We do however ask the council and other supporters of this proposal to recognize this as a first step, not a “mission accomplished.” The major obstacle keeping downtown strollers from walking to the Civic Center, and Civic Center visitors from meandering downtown after an event is not Memorial Park. It is not the winding path. It is Omaha Street.

Just four years ago Destination Rapid City, with support from Friends, proposed a pedestrian bridge over Omaha to facilitate walkers and bicyclers in crossing. The State DOT did not agree at the time, and the proposal was put on hold, with urging by the Rapid City Journal editorial board that “Regardless, the city/community discussion should move forward.”

Most recently, we learned from an international parks expert that walkers and riders don’t use elevated crossings, but they do use underpasses.

A year ago, experts who developed a master plan for pedestrian and bicycle paths in Rapid City heard repeatedly that Omaha Street is difficult to cross. They made several recommendations, some of which have been implemented, others not yet.

Friends urges the council and Destination Rapid City to use the proposed Promenade as an opportunity to do some evaluation of options. Let’s take a look at the recommendations in the master plan. Let’s get a baseline on pedestrian and bike crossing now, and again after the Promenade is completed. And let us keep the conversation going.

Thank you

Public Lecture on Parks and Economics Next Week

Join us on April 26 at The Journey Museum. Download the flyer here. Crompton Lecture/Forum Flyer.

$19.72 Campaign Halfway to Goal!

Thanks to your wonderful response to our mailer to honor the victims of the 1972 Flood with a gift of $19.72, we have raised more than $3000 to protect our parks. With the generous match pledged by a supporter, that doubles to more than $6000. We have until June to reach our goal of $10,000, and hope you will join us. Your tax deductible gift will help Friends of Rapid City Parks take action in this important year to do the following:

Acquire at least one of the parcels designated by the Floodplain Development Committee as “park.”
Press for adoption of an ordinance that adds parkland to the municipal system.
Urge the removal of the tennis court at Eighth Street, restoring green space along that section of Rapid Creek.
Support the Vision 2012 Project, which calls for completion of the storm water, trail and beautification project at West Boulevard and Omaha Street.
Champion increases to the park and recreation budget to support their increasing responsibilities.
Encourage engagement and increase visibility for park-related educational programs.

It’s easy. Make your tax deductible commemorative gift at GiveBlackHills.org

Remembering 1972 with $19.72

Join Friends of Rapid City Parks in our efforts to educate the community on the Legacy of the 1972 Flood.

Anniversary offers chance to look forward as well as back

The 1972 Flood 40th Anniversary provides an opportunity to increase education and awareness of the source of Rapid City’s abundant park space and the need to be vigilant in preserving it. While Friends is participating with city government and other civic organizations to plan events to commemorate the flood, we also want to take the opportunity to educate citizens who did not reside here or were not born yet in 1972, that the memorial greenway along Rapid Creek is not just “empty land.” Read the rest of this entry »

Remembering 1972

During the night of June 9, 1972 a stalled storm system dumped more than 10 inches of rain in the Rapid Creek basin—more than enough total rainfall to fill Pactola Lake 14 times before it was over. The crest of the flash flood and the debris it carried hit Canyon Lake around 10 p.m., tearing out the dam and adding more mud and debris to the torrent that swept through the center of Rapid City. The flood claimed the lives of 238 people, injured thousands more, and destroyed homes, businesses and property throughout the Black Hills.

The region will mark the fortieth anniversary of the flood this June and remember those who were lost. Events are set for June 8, 9 and 10 at the Civic Center, The Journey Museum, Rapid City Public Library, Dahl Arts Center, and along the greenway.

Friends of Rapid City Parks are participating in the committee planning the commemoration in June. Former Rapid City Mayor Don Barnett chairs the group, which includes Verne Sheppard, Kay Rippentrop, LaVonne Masters, Jerry Schoener, Jim Kuehn, Larry Lytle, Gary Brown, Suzanne Martley, Donovan Sprague, Greta Chapman, Ray Summers, Larry Dahlstrom, and Wes Storm. Meetings of the planning committee, set for April 4 and May 1, are open to the public.

For more information about the flood and recorded remembrances from those who experienced it, visit the Rapid City Public Library’s site. You can read about plans for the 40^th Anniversary Commemoration: Remembrance and Renewal, in the Rapid City Journal Online or in the Black Hills Knowledge Network.

Assigning value to the priceless legacy of 1972

An internationally recognized expert on the economic value that parks bring to communities will speak at a public forum in Rapid City Thursday, April 26. The lecture begins at 7 p.m. in The Journey Museum Auditorium and is one of many public events leading up to the commemoration of the 40^th Anniversary of the 1972 Flood in June.

Friends of Rapid City Parks, with co-sponsorship by the Rapid City Department of Parks and Recreation, has invited Dr. John Crompton, University Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor, and Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M to speak on the value of Rapid City’s parkland to real estate, economic development, tourism and community well-being. He will describe legal instruments, land use planning and other tools that cities have used to protect and preserve open space.

Crompton has written extensively on the impact of greenways on property values, the public value of parks and open space, and the financing of public leisure and tourism services. The most published scholar in parks and recreation discipline, he is author or co-author of 16 books and a substantial number of articles published in the recreation, tourism, sport and marketing fields. He has received numerous awards, including the National Recreation and Park Association Distinguished Professional Award.

Economic historian Eric Abrahamson of Rapid City will serve as master of ceremonies and discussion facilitator. Abrahamson has helped communities, companies and foundations draw lessons from anniversaries and historic observances such as the flood commemoration, and will lead an open discussion on the potential in Rapid City for approaches and techniques that Crompton presents in his talk. A panel of local experts will join Crompton for the discussion: Van Lindquist, chairman of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board; Kitty Kinsman, whose recreation advocacy has included leadership in the fund drives for development of the Outdoor Education Center and the Mickelson Trail, and Aaron Costello, former Ward 5 alderman for and outspoken supporter of bike and pedestrian trail development.

While in Rapid City, Crompton will also lead a workshop for parks and recreation professionals. Details on the workshop are available from the South Dakota Parks & Recreation Association.

Founders Park Project Breaks Ground

More parking spaces, a paved roadway, and an intersection with Cross Street are all part of the “improvements” to the greenway along Rapid Creek at Founders Park.

Friends of Rapid City Parks were unsuccessful in efforts to urge use of permeable materials and less paving over greenway area as modifications to the project. Friends did support aspects of the project that include a pedestrian bridge over Rapid Creek and new bike lanes allowing more people to commute to the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology by bike.

The $1.4 million project is funded by federal grants, the 2012 Vision Fund and city money.

Read more in the Rapid City Journal Online.

Construction begins in Founders Park

Looking Back

You win some and you lose some.

Since the founding of Friends of Rapid City Parks in 2005, this little organization with a big vision has proven the truth of the saying: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

Organized originally to stop erection of the Civic Center’s electronic sign in Memorial Park on Omaha Street, Friends has stopped development of state offices and an apartment complex in Braeburn Park (known as “the dog park,”), received concessions and changes in plans to expand Central High School into the park, joined the successful fight to change the way Rapid City governs the use of billboards, and engaged hundreds of citizens in the civic conversation about the green ribbon that runs through our city. We have not always been successful, especially in the fight to stop paving areas of the greenway for parking, but we are not discouraged from fighting another day.

Friends hasn’t just been about “stopping” or “opposing” actions related to parks. The organization has thrown its support and resources behind creation of new parks, the urban orchard project, the Fat Tire Festival, and has fielded volunteers for park clean up days. We have co-sponsored six annual city candidate forums, as well as public events on the history of conservation and to increase awareness of the history of the 1972 flood and its role in reshaping Rapid City’s future.

In the coming year, leading up to the observance of the 40th anniversary of the flood, we hope you will join us in our work to ensure that Rapid City area parks are managed in a way that preserves this legacy for future generations.

Won’t you join us by filling in the membership information on the right side of this page?

Meet Our Board Members

Steve McCarthy founded Friends of Rapid City Parks in 2004 to defend the greenway along Rapid Creek from development. He has led citizens in actions to stop proposed developments at Braeburn Park and other sites along Rapid Creek. He served on a citizens committee to revise floodplain development policy for Rapid City. A supporter of the arts, historic preservation and other civic organizations, Steve is on the board of the Red Cloud School, served on the Rapid City Regional Hospital board, is a member of the Scenic Rapid City Committee, and is active in preservation and restoration of historic buildings downtown. He is the owner of McCarthy Properties, Inc. of Rapid City, and started MAC Construction of Rapid City. He received his Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s University in New York, and a Master of Arts degree from City University in New York. He came to Red Cloud in 1968 as a Red Cloud Volunteer teacher. In 1999 he was named a Bush Fellow and obtained his Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Public Policy at Harvard University.

Don Frankenfeld has lived most of his 63 years in Rapid City. The 1972 flood killed some of his friends and neighbors, and destroyed most of the homes along what had been his newspaper delivery route a decade before. Don is a founding board member of Friends of Rapid City Parks and an ardent advocate for preservation of the memorial greenway along Rapid Creek. A dedicated walker and occasional hiker and cyclist, Don is a particular fan of little-known Mary Hall Park and of the Braeburn dog park at the western edge of Rapid City. Don has been a board member and supporter of community organizations including United Way, Wellspring, Center for Restorative Justice, Rapid City Regional Hospital and Equality South Dakota. A forensic economist, Don testified more than any other person on behalf of claimants to the Federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

Even though she has lived in the Black Hills nearly all her life, Kerri Severson Stover can’t imagine being anywhere other than here. As children, she and her sister spent hours running, playing, ice skating, and swimming in Rapid City’s parks. Her love for green spaces never left her, and Kerri still enjoys walking, splashing with her dogs in the creek, and even practicing yoga in the park. After several years teaching high school English and leading a non-profit mentoring agency, Kerri is currently a high school guidance counselor. Occasionally she will teach a yoga class or two at the Yoga Studio in Rapid City, and logs miles on her road bike, particularly to raise pledges for the fight against Multiple Sclerosis.

Jim Olson can be seen riding his bicycle along the scenic by-ways of the Black Hills or up and down Sheridan Lake Road on the way to Wilson, Olson & Nash where his law practice focuses on Real Estate, Business Planning and Organization, Estate Planning and Probate, Land Use and Development Law, and Contracts. Jim worked as the City Attorney for the City of Rapid City after graduating from law school and passing the South Dakota Bar. Jim enjoys singing with the Shrine of Democracy Barbershop Chorus and skiing with his grandsons. He also serves on the Rapid City Library Board and has served other community organizations including the Rapid City YMCA Board, Allied Arts Fund Drive Board, Black Hills Symphony Board, Rapid City Board of Education and the Rapid City Public School Foundation.

Hillary Dobbs-Davis has served on the Friends of Rapid City Parks board since mid-2009. As a walker, bicyclist, disc golfer, kayaker, hiker and rock climber, Hillary is committed to maintaining Rapid City’s parks and expanding the resources devoted to them. To support her outdoor habit, Hillary works for Black Hills Corporation as a senior communications coordinator, handling various community and media outreach initiatives and administering the company’s charitable giving through the BHC Foundation.

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