TERRACE PARK IMPROVEMENTS WILL NOT MOVE FORWARD AT THIS TIME
Improvements planned for this year at Terrace Park will not move forward in 2016. Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation will complete another planning process to ensure that any construction at the park will both improve accessibility and preserve the historical features of the park.
“We engaged the public at a very high level and for a number of years regarding this project, but we have not yet determined a solution that allows us to feel confident moving forward at this time,†says Don Kearney, Director of Parks and Recreation. “Our next step will be to reengage the neighborhood and take another look at the master plan for the park. Any revisions to the master plan will be approved by the Board of Historic Preservation, the ADA Accessibility Review Board, and the Parks and Recreation Board.â€
In 2014, Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation collaborated with the Terrace Park Neighborhood Association and the community on a master planning process to guide future development of the upper portion of Terrace Park. The goal of this project was to identify existing issues as well as potential opportunities within the park. Over a six-month process involving multiple public input sessions, a master plan was developed and was to serve as a road map for future construction of the park.
The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Recently, the Board of Historic Preservation determined the construction plans would have an adverse effect on the historic property.
Construction of the master plan improvements were to be completed in multiple phases, with the first phase to construct a monument sign, accessible pathways, and a centennial marker recognizing the 100-year history of the park to take place in 2016. Those improvements will not take place this year. The master plan will be revisited, and design work now will take place in 2018 and 2019, with construction in 2020 and 2021.
This year’s construction contract will be canceled, and materials already purchased for the project will be used for other projects. To date, about $39,415 of the planned $176,250 project has been expended, but much of the work will be applicable when the master plan improvements are completed. The construction of the proposed master plan improvements in 2020 and 2021 will cost about $2 million.
It’s a sophisticated way to steer funds away toward Huether pet projects.
Terrace Park should be the last bastion. As usual, improvements and funding will be reapportioned for wealthy elite unappreciated purposes. Once they move to affluent suburbs, southeast parks can be repurposed as homeless tent camps.
The country club credit card city extravagances will eventually become a life and happiness environment for a majority who appreciates anything that’s better than bread and water.