Advocates for keeping development out of the greenway were quoted often in November as the controversy over the Central High School Expansion unfolded.
You can read about it on the Rapid City Journal’s website. We’ve excerpted some of FRCP’s quotes below:
November 14:
Not so fast, said representatives from Friends of Rapid City Parks, who vowed to fight the build through any legislative change or a public vote.
“If anybody thinks it’s going to be a cakewalk to desecrate parks of Rapid City, you’ve got more thinking to do,” Don Frankenfeld said. “You’re trying to do something that’s illegal. This is a major league screw-up.”
Frankenfeld said the law [prohibiting development in park land] is there for a reason: to protect parks from the encroachment of buildings. Attempting to quietly change the law by going to the Legislature with an emergency bill is foolish.
“You might win, but you’re not going to win easily,” he said.
December 10:
Parks advocates have been critical of the school district’s plans because of its encroachment into city park land, but a representative of the Friends of Rapid City Parks spoke in support of the measure Thursday.
As part of the district’s changes, a loading zone will be turned into parking and a proposed parking lot that would have encroached further into park land will be moved to fill the space between the new gymnasium and Mount Rushmore Road.
Suzanne Martley said the revised plans provide “a great solution” to what they saw as real problems.
Still, the group will continue to keep its eye out for future encroachments on the floodplain.
“It’s more than just real estate,” Martley said. “There have been more than 60 encroachments on that floodway since the flood. These little bitty chippings, a corner here, a parking lot there, a basketball court there, continue to take away one of Rapid City’s greatest assets.”