Preservation board rejects Terrace Park plans again
An eleventh-hour compromise over plans to update a century-old park in north central Sioux Falls fell apart Wednesday when historic preservation advocates rejected the parks department's plans for the second time in as many weeks.
The city had hoped to start work on the Terrace Park improvements this week so they could be completed in time for a centennial celebration in August, but the project's timeline is now uncertain following the rejection by the city's historic preservation board.
“You guys gotta start over,” said Tom Keller, one of seven board members who voted against the plan. “I want to make sure that it’s done right, in the best way possible, and I’m (not) going to go ahead with this until I see something that doesn’t harm that park a bit.”
The city's plans would have, among other things, replaced some of the park's quartzite stone pathways with smoother concrete walkways that meet Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
Terrace Park is on the National Registry of Historic Places, which means any changes need approval from state and local historians. The state historical society OK'd the plans, which were not submitted to the local board until just weeks before the construction start date.
Tory Miedema, park development specialist for the city, said the department thought they were in the clear because the state historical group did not raise any red flags or refer the plans to the local historic preservation board.
“We basically went through out normal plan review process, which includes sending it to the state historical society,” Miedema said.
The department only decided to go to the local board after it started receiving calls from concerned neighbors about the quartzite paths.
The oversight left parks planners scrambling to come up with a compromise after the city's historic preservation board rejected the plans last week. Officials thought they had come to an agreement but the board wasn't satisfied when it voted a second time Wednesday.
Dixie Hieb, chairwoman of the city's historic preservation board, said pushing the project around the park's 100th birthday seemed counter productive.
“It seems a little inconsistent to celebrate the history of the park by removing … a bunch of historic features,” she said.
RELATED:
- June 2014: Major renovations planned for historic Terrace Park
- Nov. 2014: Terrace Park renovation plans set
- Sept. 2015: Terrace Park joins two other areas on National Register
Nancy Tapken, president of the Terrace Park Neighborhood Association, said some of the mess could have been avoided if the parks department had brought its plan to the local historic preservation board sooner.
“I’m pretty sure that is not correct protocol,” Tapken said. “You’re not above the process, the process is there for a reason.”
The original renovation plans had two stone pathways slated for removal – about half of the diagonal run that spans the east corner of the park to the picnic shelter as well as a curved pathway near Fourth Street and Grange Avenue.
After meeting with Tapken and the neighborhood group, the plan was revised to leave the diagonal stone path untouched. The curved path, though, runs downhill and would require at least partial replacement to make the park's south entrance accessible for people with disabilities.
Miedema quickly left the historic preservation board's meeting after the vote and did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment.
Now that the project has been tabled, the city will have to redesign the project in a way that leaves all the stones untouched to meet the historical preservation board's demands.
Follow metro government reporter Joe Sneve on Twitter @Argus_Joe.
