Rapid City, SD – The Rapid City Parks and Recreation Department were out in force on Tuesday, June 17th, 2025 at Main Street Square inquiring the public about the 1,400 plus acres of parkland in Rapid City and what they would like to see done with it.
A large project called the Master Plan organized by RDG Planning and Design is underway. It will identify the opportunity for upgrades and updates at each of the 42 parks and within the overall park system itself. The parks department maintains 60 total playgrounds and over 160 fields in courts. They manicure over 650 acres of lawn and curate 21 miles of shoreline along its lakes and streams
The Master Plan will also analyze the facilities including thirty park shelters, the operations procedures and maintenance for each park.
Also included in the Master Plan are recreation programs offered by the city. These programs encompass aquatics, tennis, golf, Red Cross classes, and events at Roosevelt Park ice arena along with the Black Hills Rapids soccer club.
Funding strategies for the recreation programs, maintenance and operations of the park systems is also identified as a component of the Master Plan.
The plan which began March 2025 breaks down into four phases:
Phase 1 – Discovery/park inventory and community needs assessment
March to July 2025
Phase 2 – Master Plan visions and goals , concept plans and financial analysis
July to October 2025
Phase 3 – Action plan, estimated cost
October December 2025
Phase 4 – Parks and Rec Master Plan presentation and final report
October 2025 to February 2026
Melissa Petersen project director for the Master Plan says it is important to receive a lot of feedback from the community regarding the project.
Public engagement is an important part of any community planning effort that’s why we need to hear from you. Petersen encourages the public to visit RapidCityparksurvey.org to voice your opinion on what you want to see within Rapid City’s park system.
The project website parksandrecMP.rcgov.org offers an interactive mapping tool where you can leave pins on specific areas of interest that you would like the city to notice for improvement or expansion.
Petersen noted this project will benefit the quality of life for Rapid City residents, and that it is also an important factor in boosting the tourist population of Rapid City. With over 405,2000 thousand visitors to the parks in 2024 it is evident that improvement and care of our one of a kind environment be sustained.
