Neighbors near former Lincoln Elementary School site want green space turned into a park
A group of residents from the neighborhood surrounding the former site of Lincoln Elementary School, at 1116 West Ninth Street, asked monday night for the Sioux Falls School District Board of Education to consider “making the site available.”
Four neighbors of the green space spoke during public comment time about their wish for the plot of land to become a park, but Superintendent Jane Stavem clarified later in the meeting the district would have to decide to sell it, and the board would need to act on that decision.
District-level discussions on this topic haven’t come up yet, but that would follow the district’s regular facility planning process. Stavem said the district has discussed using the site for a future community campus location or for other projects.
If the site were up for sale to the city, the city would be the one to designate it as a park, not the school district, Stavem said.
“That’s what we’ve provided in terms of information quite a few times to the group that was here,” Stavem said. “We have not had any indication from the city that they desire to acquire or designate this parcel as a city park. If they would be interested in that, we would certainly entertain that, but that has not been something that’s been indicated to the district.”
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City councilors Greg Neitzert and Pat Starr could be seen in attendance but did not speak publicly on the park proposal.
The speakers and their supporters, including Neitzert, wore green shirts with the phrase “Save Lincoln Park” on them, and handed out pamphlets to meeting attendees with an artist’s rendering of what the park could look like, complete with the existing community garden and an added gazebo, playground, basketball court, dog park and an area with native plants.
Benefits to turning the site into a park include connecting with nature, revitalizing an “at-risk neighborhood,” “crime reduction,” access to equitable green space, physical and mental health benefits, an opportunity for children to safely walk to play outdoors and an ability to grow fresh produce, according to the pamphlet shared with board members and meeting attendees.
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Lura Roti, a neighbor to the green space, spoke about its history with the opening of Lincoln Elementary School in 1889 up until it closed its doors in 1998. By spring 2006, all traces of the school had been removed. Roti said the green space and community garden there still benefit the neighborhood, which she said is in the city’s largest food desert.
Mary Glenski, who lives in the neighborhood, spoke about her family’s history in the neighborhood around the site and the importance of the green space in the area since it is a densely-populated neighborhood.
Sarah Hansen spoke about a city standard to ensure all residents are within a half-mile of a park, and said for more than 400 of her neighbors, they don’t meet that standard unless the former Lincoln Elementary School site becomes a park. Their nearest is Terrace Park, which is further than a half-mile away from her, she explained.
Jennifer Johnson Keckler, who also lives near the site, said she and her neighbors wanted to speak about this issue before the school board because there are many children in the neighborhood and they want to advocate for them. She also said an anonymous donor has given $100,000 to the cause to turn the site into a park.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Save Lincoln Park group urges Sioux Falls School District to sell plot
