Give the parks a little love before Valentine’s Day

The Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking public comment on proposed improvements to Founders Park North. Comments must be received by Friday, February 13. This area north of Rapid Creek, across from Founders Park, is slated for development to enhance a variety of uses, interpretation, connectivity to bike paths and trails, and improvements to vegetation. Friends of Rapid City … Read More

Sustainability Advocates Break Ground for Downtown Park

City officials, sustainability advocates and donors broke ground May 6 for Trinity Eco Prayer Park, a project selected by the Green Cities Task Force as a pilot project to demonstrate sustainable practicies. The park is located at the corner of Fourth and St. Joseph Streets downtown. Trinity Eco Prayer Park will boast an innovative, thoughtful alternative energy strategy that uses … Read More

Friends Documents Promise to Return Eighth Street Tennis Court to Greenway

8 April 2014 Terry Wolterstorff, P.E. Director Department of Public Works City of Rapid City By E-mail (with 5 attachments) Dear Mr. Wolterstorff: Please accept our apology for the delay in providing you the attached background information on prior events and circumstances related to the tennis courts at Eighth Street. We incorrectly assumed that the notion of using the Memorial … Read More

Comprehensive Plan Draft Features Value and Contribution of Parks

After nine months of documentation, background research, public meetings, drafts and revisions, the final product of the Rapid City Comprehensive Plan update is on its way to decision makers. An important guiding tool such as this would usually be kept up to date every five to 10 years, but aside from some subsections, our city’s plan has not been refreshed … Read More

Hello Class of 2014: Our parks need a couple good Friends

Prospectus for High Schools Friends of Rapid City Parks are seeking second semester juniors who are interested in completing a community service project. Selected student(s) would work with the FRCP Memory Walk committee (board members and executive director) to plan, develop, cooperate, publicize and carry out the Third Annual Memory Walk commemorating the 1972 Flood. The purpose of the annual … Read More

Questions Submitted to Candidates by Friends of Rapid City Parks

Studies have shown that parkland increases values for adjacent property by 20 percent. Even more studies have shown that people will trade off income for quality of life, and that open space is the number one consideration for small, hi-tech companies looking to relocate. At a public forum last year, a panel of local and national experts on parks and … Read More

Go out and play!

Not every student is able to participate in school sports programs, but studies tell us that outdoor play and exercise help not only with physical health, but creativity, teamwork, and other skills. This is an argument made in support of team sports. But not all students get picked for organized sports, or even want to try out for teams. How … Read More

Arboretum Designed to Demo Conservation Trees and Shrubs

Editor’s Note:  This article was written at the request of the Black Hills Knowledge Network, where information on the Arboretum, its plants, and rangeland scientist Ralph Cole will be archived with other local history. On a spring day, the swath of trees north of the intersection of Mountain View Road and Jackson Boulevard is dappled by a pastel cloud of … Read More

Ad Hoc Green Task Force Seeks Participants

The Mayor’s Sustainable Cities Ad Hoc Task Force for the City of Rapid City will meets the second and fourth Fridays of every month at 8 a.m.  at the conference room of the Parks Division at 2915 Canyon Lake Road (the entrance to Old Storybook Island).  The first session of each month includes time for public comment, and the second … Read More