UPDATE: There will be a meeting addressing the changes at the old council chambers in City Hall downtown this Wednesday at 4 PM.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxskDOCdkmc[/youtube]
There are several things wrong with the events leading up to the meeting at Sioux Falls’ Terrace Park on Friday June 10, 2016. You will hear many of the complaints in the video but consider the plans and the outcome.
Destroying Spellerberg Park wasn’t enough for this administration, now this.
The Sioux Falls Park Department is planning a major change to a historic city landmark, again. We understand updating to keep something safe but once again in the history is being forgotten or rewritten because it happened before the management took over.
Notice in the discussion how the neighbors found out about this update just hours before the destruction-construction equipment was to show up. An afterthought story in the Friday Argus Leader talking about how the Historic Preservation Board DENIED the changes. So what does the Parks Department do? Put weird pressure on the protesting neighbors until they walk away defeated.
Let’s consider who was informed of the upcoming change, not the people who consider this their neighborhood park but just a small ring of “landowners” touching the park area. Instead of the Cathedral neighborhood, just 4 block landowners?
A Master Plan was drawn up by our friends at Confluence. Look at the straight line concrete path dissecting the park. It no longer is a meandering wander through the park but a let’s get through there fast. Why do we have to go to a park and be in a hurry? What’s the use?
Consider these paths have been treasured for 80 years. Why do we have to destroy them because a designer doesn’t understand the history of the rock and our attachment to it. Why do we have to always destroy what we do not understand?
There are many things this park management could do to keep the integrity and charm of the park but these things will not be considered because Don Kearney and Mike Huether must think use of our natural stone is messy and icky.
Parks are for people and they should be safe but why must we make them sterile?
We find it fitting to be destroying this park just to have the best view of the T. Denny another monstrosity to out of control egos.
The motto of Sioux Falls Parks Department: WE MUST CONCRETE OVER EVERYTHING IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS!