The Meeting Room at the Glen Rock Libray needed a renovation! And the courtyard between the library and that facility would get toasty hot when the sun came out! It made it so the courtyard didn't function. The staff did like the stepping amphitheater, but the old design didn't provide spaces that were habitable for a class. What to do?
We tossed a couple of ideas into the discussion - what about a stage and a canopy over the whole thing? Sounds good! What about making a patio outside the Meeting Room? Great! What about enclosing the space? What about plants? Yep!
This is how the concept for the layout emerged, but the detail of the ornamentation came out in design. The cool leaf pattern we custom drew for our friends at Kustom Koncepts to fab - amazing! The wood roof on the stage! Oh yeah! The massive canopy structure Bob Lower detailed for us! Man! The coolest fence in the west that Rachel and Alex dreamed up! Sweet!
Our partners at JLG invited us along to design a new downtown destination in Dickinson that was - like most of these types of projects - a long time in coming!
Our role was to work out how to make the site dynamic and fun while providing the template of activities and features the community had put on the wish list during a long planning period that JLG facilitated. We detailed the site and the many various site features: 7 angular pergolas, swing, walls, dinosaur sand dig pit, angular landforms abstracted from the badland landscapes of western North Dakota, the rolling lawn abstracted from the rolling farm landscapes around Dickinson, the fire pit, fire place, plaza, dance floor, entry plaza, screen fencing, and lots of little detailed features.
Sometimes community social capital builds these projects, and sometimes these projects build community social capital. In Dickinson, it felt like it swung back and forth. Changing leadership and City staff required the design team to hold the heart of the project steady while the continuity of decision-making memory shifted over time.
There are so many fun and unique elements created for this space but it is a place that gets better as you add people. The dozens of nooks for hanging out also allow hosting big events. Winter and summer uses are both planned - and we are looking forward to seeing the ice rink installed this winter!
Finished in the Spring of 2023 in Dickinson, ND.
Truth be told, Krystal put this project on her patio together. We helped a bit with the planning but it was her vision! We were glad to help.
We love great outdoor spaces that are fun to hang out in and this space is awesome. The Wolf is our year round “home turf”, and we invite everyone to come visit.
Two things we wanted: First was to contain the space in a good way, and second was to put a roof on it. Our friends at Albertson Engineering helped us decide how to fit the structure together. We liked the steel, we thought we were going to paint it, but ultimately decided the leaving it to rust would best fit the adjacent character. It looks great. Couple cool guys from town put the puzzle pieces together. It’s cool to see a local business use local design, contractors, and serve up a uniquely local experience.
Lead has their eyes on a next project for the South Rim Parks of the Open Cut: The Town Square.
We completed a Schematic Design phase looking at how to deal with the existing shade structure, an overlook at the edge of the open cut, a bevy of shade options around the splash pad, additional paths in the park, and a bandshell!
This effort intends to build a facility that reflects the passion and enthusiasm of one of the coolest towns anywhere. Fireworks over the open cut? YES. Winterfest? YES. Markets? YES. Music? YES.
Additionally, when you live on a mountain, next to the space where they moved a mountain, you want to celebrate elevation. So, overlooking the Open Cut provides sublime prospect. A deck over the playground makes an awesome spot for lunch while the kids play below. You like to swing too? Well, we put three in the shade below the deck for the best afternoon ever. Brought some brats? Perfect, we put the grills so you have the same great view while flipping burgers. Need a shelter for a family reunion or club lunch? Rent the concession room - you’ll have a sink, a counter, and the facility you need.
Our excitement for this project, and our continued partnership with Lead is at 1000%. Watch for construction in 2024 after the City confirms the details with the public and we get the construction documents together.
The Nolan is another Stateline No. 7 collaboration that is rocking downtown Casper. Dang this building looks amazing. Cleaned up nicely.
Our role was to help create a site that matched the new downtown vibe, respected the historic building, and solved a bunch of practical issues while making a great place to hang out. So - pergolas protect you from the wind and rain, rusting steel makes the patio cool, a big bar makes a good place to sit, a stage for performers, planters for plants, and so much more fun detail.
Wait for the living units! The site there is going to be amazing too!
In 2022, Tallgrass, assisted by Stateline No. 7 Architects and the Center for Business and Economic Analysis (CBEA), assembled a park feasibility study for the City of Newcastle, Wyoming’s “Heritage Park.” This facility envisions a destination park that enables the community to gather and share experiences, meet friends and visit the farmer’s market, pay tribute and play.
The process included community and stakeholder engagement at key points throughout. This study was guided by a Steering Committee of highly motivated citizens, City Staff, and the City Council members who are involved in the City of Newcastle Parks Board. As part of the feasibility study, a complete economic impact of Heritage Park was completed by the University of Wyoming’s Center for Business and Economic Analysis, led by David Aadland. The economic study revealed the immediate beneficial implications such a park would mean for the community.
The City of Newcastle is the Western edge of the Black Hills, literally and figuratively. Its beautiful location as the Southwest Gateway to the Hills hosts a variety of hidden gems and a massive industrial infrastructure. The downtown has strong bones mirroring the diverse housing stock, the industry is prominent and central to the town, and growth is modest. While tourism does not play a significant role in the towns’ economy, the area is peppered with amazing assets and curiosities that speak to the community’s potential as a robust destination.
Heritage Park is envisioned as a bridge between our visitors and our hometown. It will be a flexible outdoor destination that welcomes the thousands of visitors that pass through the intersection of Highways 16 and 85 and provides an adaptable outdoor event center that will host a variety of community events that need a home. With a Veterans Memorial, a community commons, a community stage, market space, shelters, a concession and restroom building, and room for seasonal recreation amenities, it packs a lot of activity into an acre.
The design is intended to balance the rugged character of our working town, the durability demanded by our climate, the respect we have for our heritage and veterans, and the aspirations of a community who admires a well-built tool that serves its purpose and is motivating to use.
David Street Station is a multi-activity plaza and outdoor event space at the junction of Downtown Casper and the Old Yellowstone District. Uniquely Wyoming, uniquely Casper, the design was inspired by Casper’s long history with oil, the area’s core identity as the heart of the American West, and the City’s proximity to abundant natural beauty. This three part history - that of being an oil city, a western cowboy town, and in the shadow of Casper Mountain was celebrated in the design through the wood pillars that are branded with the logo, the lighting that recalls the oil rigs on the plains, and the looping skating rink that has skaters scooting around a narrow “river” channel.
The Station is divided into two primary use areas: the concert lawn and the plaza, with a comfort station at their intersection. It has been designed for year round use by all age groups, with planned activities and unprogrammed spaces to meet every need. This space hosts live music and performances of all types, while also having permanent infrastructure for evening events, a summer time splash pad, and a unique winter time ice skating rink. Flexibility, adaptability, and ease of use are key for the success of the space. Events from small parties to regional festivals can fit at the space with the ability to expand into the surrounding streets as needed. The industrial architecture of the stage, rest room building and skate rental, promenade and other elements shine in this modern downtown plaza. Landscape areas are mounded and bordered by long seat walls of beautiful stone. The materials were selected for durability, ease of maintenance, and to be reflective of the rich history of the City of Casper.
David Street Square is the product of the shared vision of the City of Casper, the Downtown Development Authority and the Old Yellowstone redevelopment district, and was conceived as a public-private partnership to support ongoing revitalization efforts to create a Casper City core that is a vibrant place to live, work and play. This shared vision and commitment has produced a vibrant outdoor event center that truly is “the place where Casper comes together”.
View Video of concrete pour!
In 2021 we assisted Fennell Design, Design Studio by CRS, and a bevy of engineers in the Master Planning of an Aquatic Adventure Park in Sturgis. The site we studied was the old racetrack grounds, and while the City ultimately has landed this idea at another site, the concept of a lake based fun destination park has caught the City’s imagination!
The city’s citizen committee has been promoting this idea for several years, and their ideas are amazing! The team’s role was to explore the various ways the project could fit together, test the design options, identify and address various concerns about the concept, and to identify a reasonable expected cost. Tallgrass helped by developing the concepts, assisting with the rest, helping host the public meeting we held, and compiling the booklet , plans, and presentations we made!
Working with Ron, Gene, and Brian was a real highlight for us on this project and we are excited to see the city’s next steps! It’s going to be a very successful park for them!
Substantially Complete! That’s the word on the street for the spring of 2022 at the Thyra Thomson Office Building in Casper. The building is a fantastic infill in the old railroad yard and we drew inspiration from that as design inspiration.
Sky Ridge Sports Complex is a unique sports complex at the center of a new workforce housing development in eastern Spearfish, South Dakota.
The 40-acre park includes four adult competition softball fields, six soccer fields, concessions buildings, park shelters, and a playground that will serve the sports complex and surrounding neighborhood. Set on a sloping site surrounded by the beautiful mountains of the northern Black Hills, the fields are terraced into the landscape providing locations for grassy sloped seating at the soccer fields and seating built into the hillside at the softball fields.
Working closely with the City of Spearfish Parks Department, City Administrator, City Engineers, and HDR Engineering, Tallgrass developed plans for the sports complex from master planning through construction documents. Construction is currently underway, with Tallgrass providing on-site construction administration. We also are developing the wayfinding for this park to follow the signage theme we designed for the City as part of the Jackson Boulevard Streetscape Project.
We deeply value our long-term relationship with the City of Spearfish and can’t say enough about the expertise and dedication of City staff and commitment of elected officials to the community.
Our work with the Cheyenne River Housing Authority since 2012 has been rewarding and challenging! Their long term vision and tenacity has been formational in our thinking about how to best serve rural communities.
North of Eagle Butte a section had been developed years ago - and was stalled because of the lack of capacity for new water taps. When this issue was resolved regionally, the property opened back up for new development. Over the years we’ve helped plan the overall development housing plan, a half dozen or so different block developments, community centers, and housing types, and been available to provide graphics and grant support wherever we could.
It is filling in! Each new development helps resolve the housing crisis in Cheyenne River and is a testament to the hard work of the CRHA staff and leadership.
When we first visited Kustom Koncept’s shop in Casper to see the sample letter for the SPEARFISH art piece, we knew it was going to look amazing! And it does!
Thanks to the City of Spearfish’s great staff, thanks to RCS Construction for seeing the vision, thanks to Rocking Tree for going the extra mile, thanks to Kustom Koncepts for making cool stuff we dream up, and thanks to the City of Spearfish for enduring years of construction on a very busy street.
And that was just Phase 1!
Manuel Brothers Park in Lead, South Dakota.
Tallgrass Landscape Architecture worked closely with the community of Lead, SD to develop the first phase of the South Rim Parks Master Plan - the Manuel Brothers Park Playground Remodel. This was a major civic improvement project for the mountain town of Lead, featuring a splash pad, a large playground for older kids, a large playground for littler kids, lots and lots of boulders, and some of the existing trees and infrastructure of the park into a new and vibrant center for their town.
The splash pad is a community favorite, with a push button to trigger the jets and fountains. Hand picked local boulders placed throughout the pad activate the space during winter months and bring a unique local twist to the water feature in summer months. An adjacent seat wall (also made of locally sourced rock) is a great place for parents and caregivers to get a light mist. The splash pad includes a special feature for toddlers - the Water Journey, where smaller children can activate water and manipulate water flows.
The City of Lead’s new brand and colors are incorporated into the playground theme: a blend of the historic mountain mining town and the Homestake Gold Mine’s new life as the Sanford Underground Research Facility. A diversity of new play opportunities replaced a few aging structures. A climber, several types of swings, a large play structure for older children, smaller play structure for toddlers, musical play equipment, and a maze of natural play logs and balance beams make a wonderful playground for kids to explore.
The Box Elder Parks Master Plan provides a comprehensive vision for implementing the unique vision Box Elder has to provide a welcoming and livable community as they experience rapid growth!
Some of the documents can be found here:
Trail Master Plan
The Custer Beacon is a big part of what is making our rural hometown vibrant and fun.
It’s a community event center - with restaurant, bar, music venue, outdoor hangout space, four season porch, fire pit, front yard, and back yard. It’s the natural center of of the community and in it’s first year in the remodeled warehouse hosted weekly live music, bluegrass jams, open mics, family reunions, Pumpfest - A Black Hills Climbing Festival, A regional Air Guitar qualifier event (Holy Mother of Air - you need to see this), Burning Beetle, conferences, retirement parties, weddings, lectures, and all the other small town events you can imagine, from pool leagues to club meetings!
Tallgrass helped the owner group envision how they would invest in the community long before this project was a tangible concept, developing a “transect” document for their properties that helped organize their thinking. Eventually the Custer Beacon project emerged and we participated on the design team, but we continue to think big with them - engaging their projects with Design In the Hills, a local AIA conference and being a sounding board for their ideas - from trails to housing.
The owner was 100% engaged with the design and construction of the project. Fennell Design provided architectural design services. The building and grounds continue to grow and adapt to the needs of the community. We’ll see you there for supper and a drink any time you are in town!
Listen to LeAnne describe the vision for the Grow Casper Farm.
Our role in this project was to help Grow Casper envision the full use of the site they were generously granted. They have so much to share with Casper. It’s going to make a huge impact in the community.
We created a Master Plan and developed a working site plan that has laid the groundwork for the phased effort that will bring this to life. In creating this document we helped them represent their vision and see what the potential is.
We are big fans of this project and the effort they are making to grow Casper!
The Monument Health Hospital and Clinic in Custer, SD is set on the brow of a valley with borrowed views of pine forest and Black Hills beyond. Integrated into the Hospital and Clinic grounds is a healing garden, several PT / exercise loops, sculptural log play area, helipad, and staff patio.
The Delmer Brown Healing Garden is a central part of the philosophy of the hospital and clinic healing environment. The garden is an active space for gardening, for teaching the community about growing food and healthy eating, and for use by physical therapy patients to practice their exercises. It is a quiet space for staff, patients, and families to take a breath from the sometimes stressful moments that happen in hospitals. It is a play space to keep children busy in a welcoming and safe outdoor environment. It is a community space that anyone can volunteer for, add to, and enjoy any time of day or night.
Tallgrass designed the “bones” of the garden: a waterfall and a bubbling boulder water feature, a wing-shaped pergola, berms to separate uses and create privacy, raised bed planters for vegetable growing, and several types of spaces to gather from small intimate nooks to large patios with built in seating.
The garden was the brainchild of local physician and avid gardener Dr. Joy Falkenburg and one of her terminal patients, Delmer Brown, after whom the garden is named. The garden is the outward symbol of the “healing environment” philosophy of the health care provided at this facility; attending to the body, mind, and spirit. A project close to her heart, Dr. Joy and a team of volunteers continue to fill the garden and have added a playhouse for children, lights, and many perennials, vines, herbs, and vegetables.
As the welcome sign at the garden entrance quotes from John Muir – “Everybody need beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Natural may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike”.
Some photos courtesy of Dr Joy!
Powerhouse Park was the site of the Burlington Powerhouse that functioned for a decade from 1902 to 1911 to provide power for the interurban trolley owned and operated by Burlington Railroad between the City of Deadwood and the City of Lead. Demolition of the plant started in July of 1911, but the smoke stack remained standing until the early 1920s. While it only operated for a short time, the site offers context to an important moment in development of mining, urbanization, and electrification in the Black Hills. It now stands at the northern terminus of the George S. Mickelson Trail, the 110 mile long world class bicycling trail that winds through the hills.
After a detailed investigation into the rich history of the site, we developed a park plan to allow for “Preservation without Restoration”. The goal is to preserve the site without attempting a full restoration but protecting what remains, including a portion of the 130’ smoke stack. A sample of the smokestack section was recreated by a local historical mason to give visitors an idea of its size. At least one of the smokestack bricks has fingertip imprints from a child worker at the brickyard where the bricks were made, giving another view into our history. A system of floating decks extends the boardwalk and allows for views of the ruins, the creek, and the surroundings as well as providing locations for interpretive signs without negatively impacting the ruins below. Access is provided to the creek for adventurers and fishermen, while picnic shelters provide a destination for visitors. A bridge is planned across the creek soon as well.
One aspect of our practice that runs a little under the radar is facilitation. This may include hosting public conversations, public meetings, charrettes, and dialogues of all types. These events may be related to a project, or they may be more general in nature. We have shown up for these ready to lead with well-planned activities and relevant questions ready.
We’ve managed all aspects of these activities, from advertising, planning the spaces in which we host, the snacks, the lighting, and the seating arrangements. We’ve learned the details matter. We’ve also learned our craft around facilitation from some of the best in the state and found that our time in Dakota Rising was a Masterclass in how to do this well.
Some of the specific facilitation we’ve done:
SD Local Foods Conference - Local Foods Session
Green Development Concept Facilitation
Mills Parks Public Meetings
Dinosaur Park Master Plan Public Meetings
Custer Community Center Public Meetings
Fresh photos from late June of 2020 show the great potential for the kids of Douglas, WY to have a romping good time at their brand new Boys and Girls Club facility!
Tallgrass (under Amundsen Associates and with WLC Engineering) developed the site plan and play area with the help of kids (kid attended design charrettes are very fun!) attending the old facility in 2017 and waited with the team for funding to come through in 2019. Construction wrapped up in the summer of 2020.
We were so happy that a few of the existing trees were able to stay - a portion of the existing site was an old cottonwood lowland and unfortunately most of the trees on site were too much of a danger to stay! Several with strong branches were protected during construction and provide wonderful areas shade on the new lawn. Now we’ve planted the next generation of trees in the rolling play area that includes many great kid recommended features.
The play area is a large rolling lawn with a stage, porch, and playground. The stage is adjacent to the building where a garage door opens the cool Maker Space in the facility directly to the outdoors! The playground is near the building to make winter play easy and boulder walls step down to a natural play area. Log steppers and balance beams connect to the bottom of the slope where the parking lot drainage has been channeled through a cobble creek bed to the adjacent detention basin (cleaning the water as it goes!). The rolling lawn creates plenty of play opportunity with a winding path, boulders, a wooden bike course, and a small amphitheater by the stage. We expect a lot of fun to be had here, as well as the occasional memorable childhood experience such as the discovery of a bug, a wet foot, a skinned knee, or satisfying roll down the grass slope. This area is made for natural exploration and play.
We also helped layout the drop off and waiting areas at the front of the building which include a great James Rose (LA nerds - you know who I’m talking about) inspired entry sequence with five layers of entry. An entrance to the Teen Center took advantage of the small bit of grade change to make a sitting area. Bus and parent pick up drop offs are separated, and the parking lot maintains the use of the former parking lot on the site that serves as a trail head for the Heritage Trail!
We are proud of the construction team (Sampson Construction) and the owner for stepping into a great project!
In 2012, the Cheyenne River Housing Authority was awarded a TECA grant from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to fund a long wished-for project – playgrounds for the children of the communities throughout the reservation, aka “Project Play”. The play areas would be safe, fun, durable, affordable, and located centrally in their local communities. They would be designed to combat youth diabetes and reduce childhood obesity rates as well as enhancing the mental and emotional growth of the children of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
Tallgrass Landscape Architecture was honored to be selected to design the playgrounds and assist Project Play in involving each community and their children in the design process. We worked closely with the project coordinator to develop community surveys - including a survey that was completed by nearly 400 children across the reservation! In this way, the communities and their children selected the types of play experiences that they would like best. We designed four different playground design types for the CRHA that allowed each community or neighborhood to select the playground style, colors and amenities that best suit the needs of their children and have an opportunity to reflect something of cultural significance of each community – both through color and playground signage. The signs, unique to each community tell special community stories, talk about tribal members of significance, or teach about an animal of special significance that is indigenous to the region. Project Play is now complete with 24 playgrounds in 17 remote communities across the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation providing play opportunities where few existed before.
Click Here To View Full Study
The Mills Riverfront Feasibility Study is a “Property Programming and Feasibility Study to Provide Recommendations for Undeveloped Land” for the Town of Mills, WY. The study provided a Site Analysis, Precedent Comparisons, Public Outreach, a comparison Matrix of the top two uses, and a final recommended plan for the development of the property. In addition, a robust next steps process outlined the path to success.
Working with the entire town council, staff, and other town consultants the study process allowed a general consensus toward land use to be formed. The plan is far-reaching and balances practical implementation with the Town’s visionary goal to re-center its downtown toward the river. The new downtown center will create an attractive destination for residents and visitors alike.
The City of Lead has transformed from “the richest little city in the world” from mining gold to mining the deep mysteries of the universe at the Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake. A new visitor center perched on the edge of the infamous Open Cut revealed opportunities in the adjacent parks. Tallgrass Landscape Architecture worked with the City to develop a visionary Master Plan for Manuel Brothers Park to better meet the current and future needs of the community. The plan quickly expanded to include the entire “South Rim” of the Open Cut, including Prospect Park, Manuel Brothers Park, the Rifle Club, and the Dog Park.
This plan provides the missing Town Center that Lead has long been searching for, yet includes space and program area for the recreational aspects of the park and the acknowledgment that you are on the edge of a huge hole in the earth that is absolutely awe-inspiring. An initial phase of the project bid in the winter of 2017 to allow for a summer construction schedule.
Lead, SD is one of the most fascinating and storied small towns around. From the “richest little town in America” to the devastating loss of the Homestake Gold Mine to it’s renaissance as home to unlocking the secrets of the Universe at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, the past 150 years have been a wild ride.
Our work with Lead began in the early 2000’s when the town was struggling with economic and social loss after Homestake Mine closed. Tallgrass assisted with some downtown visualization that started to help the community see the potential in their downtown and to understand the implications of a planned Department of Transportation project to a downtown with narrow streets and sidewalks and limited parking.
These visualizations were used to clarify a ballot initiative to the community and got them started down the path of thinking about downtown revitalization, creating economic development through community gathering spaces, and how small towns attract and retain people in their community.
Ballot initiative decided, Tallgrass was thrilled to work with Lead again for the South Rim Parks Master Plan and the first phase of that plan, Manuel Brothers Park. We are currently working on the next phase of design development at Manuel Brothers Park.
Tallgrass Landscape Architecture has been working as the project master planner and landscape architects with this dynamic Black Hills business since our early days. Adding both production expansion to the existing winery and two new destination businesses, this corner of the Hills is exploding with activity, color and new tastes, sights and entertainment. Tallgrass has been fortunate to provide master planning, site design, visualization, and landscape architecture services for this multi-year expansion project. Being at the table with the owners and multiple consultants and contractors while the concepts for this expansion have emerged has been a highlight of our work. Our contribution to the Prairie Berry expansion includes site circulation design mitigating pedestrians and commercial deliveries that require access to multiple venues, overall parking and logistical planning, site planning for the Miner Brewing Company, amphitheater design for outdoor live performance spaces, The Homestead site planning, design for landscape and other site features throughout this Black Hills destination.
Tallgrass Landscape Architecture teamed with Stanley Design Group to create the Robbinsdale Park Master Plan. The plan unfolded over a year long process, allowing generous public input, and a comprehensive plan to be developed. Tallgrass supported the planning throughout the entire process by providing analysis, public meeting facilitation, concept development, master planning, graphics, and more - all in partnership with our partner firm.
The plan was initiated by Rapid City Parks and Recreation as a part of and in reaction to a large stormwater project necessary in the north west and west portions of the park. Parks saw this as an opportunity to address planning needs for the entire park and provide better recreation services on the east side of town.
This master plan is the next step in the park’s evolution and will guide development of the park for the next 15 to 25 years. Robbinsdale Park is divided by land form and use into three distinct park types; the Neighborhood Park, the Sports Park, and the Nature Park. The Master Plan retains the character of each of these areas,adjusting and adding improvements that respond to stakeholder needs in those areas. Connecting these three areas is a re-aligned park street and new, more evenly distributed parking.
Our work at the park immediately moved into the Phase 1 Projects, including a new BMX track and additional Little League Fields which were completed in 2018.
Art 321 is now the center of a cultural resurgence in downtown Casper and is a hub for art walks, artists’ showings, and other events that are transforming a sleepy downtown into a vibrant urban destination. The overwhelming crowds and guild membership increases seen since opening are a clear indicator of the thirst for urban social events in this community.
Working with the project architect we provided several concept plans and 3d visualizations to help the client understand how the space could be organized. A tight budget required several significant design changes during construction, and efforts were successful in maintaining the feel of the project while significantly reducing the overall costs.
The Black Hills Central Railroad understands how to make a fascinating technological marvel feel safe and attractive to families. The 1880 Train is an icon of Black Hills tourism, fascinating children, intriguing gear heads and appealing to a sense of adventure. You know you are in the west when you are on a steam powered train! Recent improvements have softened the site and provided a more comfortable visitor experience. Engine No. 7 has gotten a place of prominence and advertises this unique attraction when not in use. Two new railroad themed shade structures organize visitors and keeps them out of the sun, rain, and sometimes snow.
Tallgrass Landscape Architecture is honored to be the go-to designer for this Black Hills icon. We provide shade structure design, site design addressing visitor and train site circulation, drainage issues, landscape display areas for historic trains and rail road equipment, and safety separations that enhance the visitor experience at both the Hill City and Keystone Stations.
Improvements here are ongoing. Expect to see more fun site developments in coming years!
Tallgrass teamed with our friends at AE2S Engineering to create destination trailheads for some of Rapid City’s newest trails in Skyline Wilderness. The existing trailheads were casual affairs - dirt parking lots with limited parking, dangerous pullouts, and no site control - at best. The plans served to solve many of the various site issues for all users and included everything from straightening a section of Skyline Drive to eliminate a blind corner and adding a new parking lot to the end of West Fulton Street. Accommodations for bus traffic and a safer street crossing were implemented at the Dinosaur Park Trailhead.
New custom bicycle racks, signs, and landscape features were added. The trailheads provide a place to gather before embarking on some of the new trails. Rapid City continues to lead the way as a national ride center for biking.
Click Here To View Full Study
Tallgrass Landscape Architecture provided Master Planning, including meeting planning, facilitation, and backgrounds for the public input process. Currently Phase 1 is under construction and Phase 2 is being designed. The streetscape design for one of the Black Hills’ most travelled routes - Jackson Boulevard, from Interstate 90’s Exit 17 to Black Hills State University highlights Spearfish as the Black Hill’s “City of Fall Color” and recalls a journey through Spearfish Canyon. Large boulders are being brought from several locations to represent the different levels of the canyon. Plantings are durable and mimic the character of the canyon, while earthwork in the medians creates a unique travel experience.
Streetscape plans include boulevards, entry features, medians, ADA compliance, street lighting, a bridge aethetic maker, the “ellispabout” - a roundabout feature, plantings, irrigation and other elements to comprise a complete street remodel.
Tallgrass has been working with the City of Deadwood for the last five years to rejuvenate Whitewood Creek.
We have had a new project every year for a different section of the creek, and each section poses it’s own challenges and opportunities.
This project is a little bit restoration, a little bit clean up, a little bit weed management, a little bit planting new trees, and a little bit experimentation.
The Whitewood Creek Improvement Project has restored creek habitat, improved recreation quality, decreased erosion and sedimentation, and enhanced the riparian plant communities while cleaning up overgrowth and dead plants. The long term goals of these improvements have been to create a stable stream system, improve water quality, and enhance aquatic habitat and aesthetic value of the creek. The creek is still recovering from nearly 100 years of mining chemical and city sewer contamination, both of which ceased in the mid 1970’s.
Our role in the project includes directing creek cleanup of garbage, debris, noxious weeds, and select vegetation removal and the design of bank restoration and new aquatic habitats. Tallgrass consulted with SD GF&P, Black Hills Fly Fishers, City of Deadwood, and others to understand current aquatic and terrestrial habitat condition and needs of the creek ecosystem. We also collaborated with the City of Deadwood to write a grant proposal to the SD GF&P for NRDA funding for a portion of the project.
A Master Plan for Dinosaur Park was part of our work for the Rapid City Department of Parks and Recreation that we tackled with AE2S and Architecture International.
The Master Plan was driven by the need for access to the top of the hill, some 75+ feet above the parking lot at the gift shop. Examining how to provide access, safety on the steep hillside, preserve the historical resource, stabilized dinosaurs and revision the park functions resulted in a plan that will provide a refreshed park experience for the next 50 - 100 years.
We’ve been working with our partner firms for over five years to help bring to life the new State Office Building in Casper Wyoming. Stateline No. 7 Architects led our team through a multi-year, multi-site, and multi-concept Level I & II study until construction documents were started in 2017. Under construction in 2020-2021 this site renews an 11 acre brownfield site in the Old Yellowstone District of Casper, Tallgrass developed site layout and was responsible for the various site features, including a bicycle roundabout, site fencing and walls, seat walls, a large entry wall, berms that reflect a historical interpretation of the railroad berms, a playground for the facility’s visitors, and the integration of a large public art sculpture along the bike trail.
We worked with Chamberlin Architects over several years on the renovation of McLaury Hall. Our part of the project was to reorganize the walkways and connections around the building in a way that fixed the drainage issues and small grading issues that had accumulated around it over the years.
We set the stage for later developments with Phase 1, and the project circled back a couple years later after more building renovation was completed for Phase 3, which added the benches between McLaury and the Classroom Building. SECO Construction did the work on Phase 3 and we always admire their fine concrete work.
The Archery Range at the Outdoor Campus West in Rapid City was an opportunity for us to return to one of our favorite places in the Black Hills! Matt was the site lead for the campus when it was built back in 2007-2009, and Tanya had the original idea for putting the building between two creeks (well, a creek and a pond)! We helped RC Fire with the fire-wise garden and have always dreamed of returning to do more work. Lucky us!
The project was called “BB Gun Range” and involved a building for shooting and site work for a an archery range, and a walking shoot! We laid out both and designed a shade structure for the range. Wander the trail and you can find each shooting position is precisely located to take advantage of the unique site features and terrain. A parking lot and detention was also included.
Now they describe the facility as a free outdoor archery ranges open to the public from sunrise to sunset 365 days/year with 14-station practice range with targets at distances from 20 to 80 yards and a 14-station walking course with targets at distances from 11 to 80 yards.
It fits in well at the Outdoor Campus West - a hidden treasure in our region where you get hands-on experiences in hunting, fishing and other outdoor skills. Explore the facility and tell us your favorite part!
The Custer Veteran’s Memorial is at the bottom of 5th Street, straight down the hill from the main intersection. It’s an appropriate location for our community’s desire to honor our Veteran’s - right in the heart of town.
Our friends over at Architecture Incorporated and Co-op asked us to help out with this one - sorting out the center green while they were adding some new big buildings to the campus. We did a pile of concepts and the client got to direct how a bunch of parking lots could be transformed into a lovely green space at the heart of the campus.
Working on the Railroad is a favorite project for us!
Over in Keystone you wait for the train to arrive after lunch and wait for the ride back to Hill City! The complexities of grade and organizing the masses of people were challenging the space and it was crowded, difficult to navigate, and everyone was in each other’s photos. It is still crowded, but now there is a way to get past everyone waiting to get on the train.
All we can say is: please wait your turn!
We love to make new friends in small towns across the region. Sometimes we get called when folks feel like new road or parking lot projects aren’t looking right and they feel some essential character of the town they love is being lost.
In Philip projects threatened some of the trees around the courthouse and we were asked, what can we do!? And then, we were asked, well, can we do something over here? Sure enough, there was desire and capacity for a small garden project with the local Garden Club - so we helped out a bit!
They did a great job bringing it together! And it is ok that it didn’t end up like our detail - they carried out the vision and we cheered them on!
Year: 2011
Project Type: Streetscape, Parking Lot
First up - Bill Barber and his team at GBA, Inc. are awesome and we miss him working in the industry all the time! Retirement must be fine!
Second - did you see the fully remodeled Garfield? It is amazing. They did such a great job with the remodel and every unit just looks great. A couple of them are beyond belief.
For our part we helped think through a few project approach ideas and work out the site circulation - which turned out simpler and elegant! We enjoyed working with Fennell Design on this one and are so proud of the work that they all did to make this one of a kind facility become what it is today.
Year: 2015
Project Type: Multi-Family Residential
Our role as landscape architects is sometimes to the the voice of the project and to represent the goals and vision to the community. Sometimes that means giving presentations at City Hall, and sometimes it means providing content that promotes the project..
When Skyline Engineering started the Downtown Lighting project it was just a vision by Downtown Rapid City to make it feel safer for pedestrians, more inviting overall, and to unify the district. We were brought on and created a video and supporting graphics to relay that message.
The interviews are still fun and relevant, and we’ve seen Rapid come a long ways in just a few years from where we were then.
And congratulations to Rapid City and Skyline - this project recently finished, and downtown feels just like our vision!
Here’s a few more of our interviews we did:
Year: 2014
Project Type: Master Plan
Black Hills Energy is located at the southwest corner of Catron Boulevard and Highway 16. Based in Rapid City, SD, Black Hills Energy provides gas and electric energy to customers across eight states. The corporation also generates wholesale electricity and produces natural gas, oil and coal. Black Hills Energy's facility in Rapid City consolidates approximately 750 employees, formerly separated across 6 locations, onto one campus.
Tallgrass worked with our friends at ARC International on the site plan, irrigation and landscape. Ferber did a great job with the site infrastructure, including working out some tricky irrigation elements!
Some of the key design pieces were great building entries, enjoyable patio settings, a waterfall in the pond, a screening berm toward Catron that didn’t seem like a screening berm, and allowing for future site expansion pads in a simple but logical way.
Most small towns have great community parks scattered across the community. Over years they change, project by project, growing with a community. Every once in a while it is valuable for them to stop, evaluate what they have, identify important projects, and make a plan for how to move some of the high interest projects forward.
These master plans are a guide for the community and we understand that as soon as they are written they are in danger of being obsolete due to new projects that come along, and new issues that emerge. However, towns have a responsibility to manage their assets well and bring their facilities up to modern codes. These master plans help them approach these problems as there is always the biggest concern limiting their responses - budget.
Community: Hot Springs
Year: 2014
We supported Stateline No. 7 Architect’s twelve-classroom addition with gymnasium to the existing elementary shcool in Bar Nunn. Our part was making sure the new outdoor circulation worked out and that all the site amenities fit back in - a small part of a more complex project. The two-phase project was designed to allow the school to remain fully functional during the construction and included a very compressed timeframe of just 14 months of construction.
Sometimes a project like this leaves you with some real learning - such as just how hard it is to grow grass in Wyoming. And how a good concrete detail is so satisfying. Or that while expensive, stainless steel just feels good to the hand.
When you look at the world through the lens of true ADA compliant accessibility, you’ll see that much of the world does not conform to the slope standards. Many projects like this have us scratching out grading solutions into the wee hours trying to find a route that makes intuitive sense to the user and will actually connect two points in space at the allowed slopes!
Back in 2013 - 2014 we got to create a couple interesting signs for the City of Custer, our hometown! These went up in Big Rock Park and Pageant Hill. The idea was that they would last a couple years, then we’d reprint them and remount them. Well, it is 2023 and we are just getting around to redoing them and adding another.
The process of compiling the stories and images necessary to complete a project like this is long. We created logos, wrote copy, developed original graphics, and learned a few things about printing before we were through. We drew a disc golf map, a few plaza layouts, a demolition concept for the old foundation that was across from Harbach Park, and a few other odd jobs as well.
Watch for new signs the summer of 2023.
The year: 2013.
The concept: Park Homes.
The task: How do they fit.
We worked to explore various ways the park home model, a midpoint between RV and Modular Home, could be placed in the beautiful Horse Creek RV Park and Campground.
This project completed the Jackson Boulevard remodel and included a roundabout, new entry signs, the amazing Dale Lamphere sculpture “The Hive” and the continuation of the streetscape that we started in Phase 1.
Some of the days were impressive. Swinging the sculpture into place was pretty cool. So was the big entry sign adjacent to the interstate. Our collaboration with AE2S, the City of Spearfish, Kustom Koncepts, RCS, and Black Hills Landscapes was really fun at every step of the way.
Upon completion of the Robbinsdale Park Master Plan, our team moved immediately into Construction Documents for the Phase 1 Projects. These included the Detention Basin, the BMX Track relocation, and the Little League Field remodel.
Our role was to provide layout, drainage, grading, and planting plans for this construction effort. During construction we tag teamed the observation effort.
When WLC Engineering and Surveying was hired by the Town of Rolling Hills to create a Park and Pathways Master Plan encompassing the entire town they asked Tallgrass to provide planning for parks, pathways, a new town hall site, community center and new recreational facilities. We helped provide planning, concept generation, renderings, and layouts of the envisioned improvements. We worked up cost estimates and a timeline for implementing the proposed projects. The completion of this project provides the Town with a Master Plan they can use to apply for grants to construct proposed amenities and capital projects.
A huge part of the work revolved around the Town of Rolling Hills having purchased an entire section adjacent to the Town. They looked to conceptualize that area for additional housing and recreational opportunities. Rolling Hills’ location, operations, and vision for their community is very unique
Project Type: Parks Master Plan
Year Complete: 2019
Client: The Town of Rolling Hills
Lead Partner: WLC Engineering and Surveying
