In collaboration with the City of Lead, we created a Master Plan to be used to identify future community-supported projects and to guide project funding and development of Prospect Park, Manuel Brothers Park and the Lead Dog Park as well as important adjacent community properties.

Prospect Park, Manuel Brothers Park and the Lead Dog Park run along the south rim of one of the Homestake Gold Mine Open Cut, one of the most unique and sublime features in the Black Hills. With community support, Lead is planning improvements to these parks. Road improvements to Main Street / Highway 85 and the new Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center, currently under construction at the west end of Manuel Brothers Park, will help improve visitor and resident experiences of the parks.

Much of this Master Plan is based on community input, which has been an important part of the process from the beginning. We hope this combine with a professional assessment of the existing parks makes for a strong, usable plan for the residents of Lead.

Process

In addition to assessing the parks for ADA and safety compliance, we facilitated three community workshops / input sessions. These included a workshop with interested community members, a workshop with local children in 4th-9th grades at the Boys and Girls Club, and a workshop with elementary school aged children, all in December, 2014. Approximately 68 participants took part in the workshops.

Each park was visually assessed for compliance with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. ADA parking, access to amenities, bathrooms, structures, playground equipment and surfacing, sidewalk / accessible route availability and slope, and handrail compliance were all reviewed.

Working with the community workshop results three concepts for the parks were developed and reviewed. The final plan drew from the best of each, matching the capabilities and interest of the City.

Plan

Lead residents have lots of great ideas for the parks. Ideas included a range from zip lines across the open cut to a children’s art and science center. Most ideas were focused on Manuel Brothers Park, with a few ideas for Prospect Park and a general feeling that the Dog Park should be left alone with the exception of a trail connection from Manuel Brothers Park. The plan represents a chance for Lead to continue to realign its relationship to its rich mining history while refocusing its efforts on making places that work for the new vision represented by the remodeled visitor center!