The proposed expansion of Central High School will take a smaller bite out of the greenway thanks to actions Friends of Rapid City Parks have pressed on school and city officials.
Since learning that initial plans for a new science wing, gym and parking would encroach on park land set aside after the 1972 flood, FRCP members have successfully advocated changes to move the science wing to the north and place parking areas to the east, keeping both out of the 100-year floodplain that lies south of the existing high school buildings.
FRCP board member Don Frankenfeld raised the issue prior to a school board meeting in November, when members of the school board learned that the land on which they proposed building was designated park by state law. Frankenfeld told city officials “If anybody thinks it’s going to be a cakewalk to desecrate parks of Rapid City, you’ve got more thinking to do.”
School officials scrambled to find a way out of the dilemma, and proposed moving the science wing to the north. Steve McCarthy, president of FRCP, lauded the school board for the action, but said it wasn’t enough, and FRCP continued to advocate getting parking spaces out of the greenway as well.
You can see more on FRCP’s actions to change the plans for Central in articles below.