As Rushmore Plaza Civic Center and nearby city and school facilities grow, so does the need for parking and better walkways.

New parking master plan efforts are just starting, looking at concepts from walking bridges to whether Rapid City joins other regional cities in charging for event parking, said civic center manager Brian Maliske.

The study also will explore whether the area's parking is truly lacking or there is a perceived problem.

"I think we are spoiled in that we're used to going in and out and being home in 10 minutes, and there isn't any other place in the world you can do that. But we're used to it here," parking committee chairman Tom Hennies said.

"People want to be able to get in and get out in five minutes, and that's kind of difficult. But we're looking at different ways that we might facilitate that, too."

The study comes as the civic center prepares to open its new multipurpose arena and a $1 million, 500-space parking lot. The project also is creating a city softball field, which likewise benefits from the parking.

Maliske said the goal for the master parking plan is to consider such new uses as the softball field and proposed powwow grounds at the Journey Museum, to the expanding civic center to the proposed renovations and theater project at Rapid City Central High School.

Mayor Alan Hanks formed the parking committee in September after the city's planning commission raised questions during discussion about additional parking along New York Street between the Journey Museum and Fifth Street.

Construction began in September to add 500 spaces in a new parking lot just east of the city's existing 500-space lot at the intersection of Fifth and New York streets. With the additional spaces, 4,132 parking stalls will be available for civic center events in lots at Central High School, the civic center, New York Street and the Journey Museum.

Maliske said the parking committee will review a variety of parking-related issues, including the adequacy of pedestrian crossings at Fifth and Eighth streets.

Ideas range from moving crosswalks to building walking bridges over the streets to extending the walking path to under Rapid Creek bridge on Fifth. Police patrols and manually controlling intersection traffic lights for especially big events also were proposed, he said.

Hennies said the committee will meet several times before submitting recommendations to the city council and civic center board. He doesn't expect the committee will take a great deal of time to come up with suggestions for the city. There is no deadline.

Meanwhile, the new Fifth Street lot is a week ahead of schedule and will be ready for the first Rapid City Rush home hockey game on Saturday, Nov. 29.

Construction of the new arena is on schedule, he said. Fixed seating is in place and a portable seating area is nearly completed. The club seating area is complete and the luxury suites are almost finished.

And plans to build even more parking at the civic center are moving forward. Maliske said the civic center board of directors is communicating with FMG, the firm that designed the Fifth Street parking lot, about what would be required to build perhaps another 480 spaces into the hillside north of the civic center and Holiday Inn.

A previous study, now outdated by inflation, pegged the cost of a parking ramp in the area at $2 million to $3 million, Maliske said.

With parking construction come questions about paying for it. The civic center board three months ago included the New York Street parking lot in $5 million worth of projects that include updating the civic center's heating and cooling systems, theater access for handicapped people and roof work. The bonded loan will be paid with revenues generated by the civic center.

Whether parking fees will be needed will be studied, and the group has looked at charges in Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D., Kearney, Neb., and Sioux Falls.

"Right now, we're one of the very, very few facilities with free parking," Maliske said. "We're really in the infancy stages of this process. Nothing has been decided."