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?

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.

From swings and sliding boards, from gazebos and flower gardens, the view exhorts us to eat, drink, buy, sell, visit and vote.

Friends of Rapid City Parks thinks the view within a municipal park should be framed by trees, clouds and the angles of the swings and slides. Our parks are a legacy for future generations. That means protecting the visual appeal and serenity of this green space in the midst of our busy and growing community.

On June 7, we hope you will join us in supporting consistent new rules that keep Rapid City scenic, and keep the beer bottles and bikini bottoms out of the view from first base, a comfy bench or the sandbox.

You can learn more about the two proposals that will be on the ballot, as well as what citizens are doing to clean up the view of our town, at Scenic Rapid City.

If you lived in Rapid City during the flood and are willing to tell your story, SDPB wants to interview you. According to reporter Charles Michael Ray, the video documentary will also examine new USGS information on the major floods of Rapid Creek in the past 2000 years. The piece will also delve into current development issues in the greenway and broader flood plain.

Flood survivors who want to share their recollections can contact:
Charles Michael Ray
West River News Producer
South Dakota Public Broadcasting
2040 West Main #302
Rapid City, SD
57702
Charles.Ray@state.sd.us
(605) 394-3363 (office)
(605) 391-0475 (cell)
1-866-771-0162 (fax)

“We don’t object to another field house; we want the city to find another location that would serve the recreational needs of our community” said Steve McCarthy, president of Friends of Rapid City Parks. The organization was founded to protect, preserve and promote Rapid City parks and has fought development in the greenway, set aside as a memorial to those who died in the 1972 flood.

“In the years since then,” McCarthy said, “more than 60 structures have been erected in the park. If we don’t stop encroaching on this sacred ground, our park land will be nothing but a strip of bricks and pavement through the heart of the community.”
McCarthy pointed out that the city has community gyms at South and West middle schools, and  justified construction of a new Central High School gym on park land because it will serve as  a community recreational facility.
Friends objected to construction of the swim center and ice arena in the park in 2002, and has spoken against expanded parking lots that have paved over acres of greenway land along Rapid Creek.

“We understand the rationale of building the new field house in a central location on land the city already owns, connecting to existing buildings,” McCarthy said. “But that land is not ‘free.’ It came at a very high price. We are asking the city to keep its commitment to the memory of those who paid for it with their lives.”

Friends of Rapid City Parks opposed the original building in Roosevelt Park in 2002, the ice rink in 2003, and objects to use of 2012 Vision Funds for the third component—the field house. All three projects stand on sacred ground:  the memorial greenway designated after the 1972 flood.

The Rapid City Park system is a wonderful ribbon of green running through our city. This legacy created as a result of the tragic 1972 flood has been called the “jewel of Rapid City.” It is a refuge from the noise of the city, a place to picnic, jog, walk our dogs, bike, and for our families to participate in a variety of outdoor recreational activities. It would be hard for any of us to think of Rapid City without it.

But this jewel needs to be protected, polished and cherished. In the nearly 40 years since the Flood more than 60 buildings have been erected in the park, the most recent a new gymnasium at the expanded Central High School. If we continue at this pace our wonderful parkland will be nothing but buildings and parking lots.

Friends of Rapid City Parks do not oppose recreational facilities. What we object to is the assumption that because land is in the greenway it comes without a cost. The cost was paid dearly in lives and property in 1972. The community made a commitment to honor that loss with a memorial park, not with shoulder-to-shoulder sports facilities.

We cannot afford to use this narrow green ribbon to stack building after building, pave acre after acre, install one facility after another to accommodate recreational demands.

We need to expand our park system with acquisition of green space and land for recreational facilities away from the center of town. Rapid Creek and the greenway along it cannot continue to bear the brunt of every demand for parking, buildings, tracks, pools, and other amenities related to our amusement.

Contact your city council members to let them know you don’t want another building desecrating sacred ground.  The link will take you to the city council page where you can email members.

Top recommendations are designed to overcome obstacles to walking and cycling, and give walkers and bikers access past major highways and corridors that divide the city. Longer term proposals include trail construction and ongoing education. According to the document, the long term vision is to make Rapid City “a world-class biking and walking community with a diversified transportation system in which pedestrians and bicyclists are a priority in transportation planning, design and maintenance; where streets that accommodate bicyclists and sidewalks are accessible and user friendly; and where citizens have many travel options in their daily lives.”

The plan provides suggestions for education, encouragement and enforcement programs to improve the walking and biking environment in the Rapid City area. The public had a chance to view the plan at an open house and the City Council voted to approve the draft plan on April 18. Council member Aaron Costello noted that the report is a draft and interested individuals can continue to submit their recommendations and comments on the plan. Download a copy of the master plan or executive summary.