Claims and counter claims about who said what regarding the 8th Street tennis court are making our heads spin.
Perhaps the most egregious is the colloquy between a member of the Rapid City Common Council and the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation at last week’s council meeting (July 21, 2014), in a vain attempt to establish some excuse for violating state law because we have a dilapidated corner in the Memorial Park Greenway.
To say that beautification, landscaping, and storm water improvements at West Memorial Park were “never on any list” is just plain ignorant of the facts. So we present a few for your consideration, and with hopes that public officials might take the time to learn about the jobs they are supposed to be doing.
July 5, 2005: Rapid City Common Council approves the Omaha Street Corridor Enhancement Project Master Plan, outlining landscaping, lighting, safety, pathway, recreation, and historic interpretation projects from East Boulevard to Cross Street (Agenda Item #56).
2005 to 2010: Omaha Street Corridor Enhancement Project makes improvements at Founders Park, Memorial Park, Roosevelt Park, Pressler Junction.
April 5, 2010: West Memorial is the last piece of the Omaha Street Enhancement Project remaining to be completed. Rapid City Beautification Committee submits Vision 2012 proposal under Master Plan to complete West Memorial Park enhancements, including tear-out of the existing paving, restoration of wetlands habitat and vegetation, stormwater and safety improvements.
West Memorial Park did not make the cut, falling behind two swimming pools, Main Street Square, Skyline Wilderness Park, Roosevelt Field House, Canyon Lake Dam, ball fields and a variety of economic development and social service projects and programs. We admit it did not rise to the top of the priority list, but it was on the list. Friends supported the project then, and we support it now.
And while we’re at it, let’s correct some more of the record. As Friends of Rapid City Parks stands firm in support of its mission and purpose—protection of the greenway—the folks who think a park isn’t a “park” without asphalt, hoops, wheels, baselines, jungle gyms, and more asphalt accuse us of “being against” everything. Not so. Here is our record on support of parks and recreation.
