Belle Fourche gets $74K grant to revamp Gay Park: Inclusivity, ADA compliant among chief goals – Black Hills Pioneer

The grant is a 50/50 match through the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks’ Division of Parks and Recreation. The state program agreed to fund 50% of the costs up to $74,500.

The Belle Fourche City Council authorized Mayor Randy Schmidt to sign the grant agreement during its July 19 meeting. According to the agreement, the funds are slated to be apportioned from GF&P’s Land & Water Conservation Fund.

Krysti Weed, administrative assistant for the city engineering department, is part of the group of city staff working to bring the project to fruition.

The play equipment at the park has reached the end of its usefulness cycle, Weed said, explaining the rationale related to selecting Gay Park out of the 10 parks in the city. Additionally, the small-scale playground currently at the park is geared for children ages 2-5. The new equipment would be aimed at serving all children ages 2-12, she said.

Weed told the Pioneer that over the years she’s received many inquiries from families who have differently abled children seeking inclusive play opportunities while allowing them to play alongside their able-bodied peers.

In 2019, the Kennedy Jean Weis Foundation funded the installation of an inclusive swing at Gay Park.  

None of the other parks in town have all-inclusive playground equipment.

Cunningham Recreation, the company that designed the playground, headquartered out of Charlotte, N.C., works with a wide range of equipment. However, Weed said the company does very well designed all-inclusive equipment.

“They work with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the federal government to determine what is or what is not conducive for handicapped kids,” she said.

Weed said the city sent the signed agreement back to the state this week and the project is moving along nicely. She said the city has placed the order for the playground equipment with Cunningham Recreational and are aiming for a delivery timeframe between September and October. City crews will be performing the installation in-house.

“We’re going to take out the old equipment,” Weed said. “It (the equipment) doesn’t have much life left in it, so we’re probably going to just destroy it instead of surplusing it. And then we will be putting in the new stuff.”

In addition to getting updated and inclusive new equipment at Gay Park, Weed said the upgrade will add more space and equipment overall.

“It’s going to be much bigger,” she said.

The current playground equipment covers approximately 800 square feet. The new equipment is expected to more than quadruple that with more than 3,400 square feet of playground, Weed said.

“It’s a substantial enlargement,” she said.

Weed said that barring any substantial speed bumps in the project, the park could potentially be ready for area children to enjoy this fall.

“I’m really hoping that it gets in by the middle of October,” she said, adding that her estimation is an approximate date.

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