Beautification! – What does it look like?
By Sunny Hannum
Well, think about it. If you were getting kind of dilapidated and worn looking, a little frayed around the edges, wouldn’t you want someone to fix you up?
Fort Pierre’s Downtown Development Committee, founded by Fort Pierre Development Corporation, began a beautification focus for their downtown last year. The group had limited funds so they decided to have a singular focus of beautification.
The beautification theme had grown out of the downtown group and parent organization’s attempt to keep the area around the visitor center decorated for the seasons through flowers in the summer time and lighting during the holidays. Some members of the committee are also on the Verendrye Museum Board. That board had already prioritized keeping their buildings and grounds looking good. Last fall they began decorating and lighting the jail interior for each season. It became haunted in the fall and a Grinch appeared inside the jail for the holidays. They moved on to Valentines and Saint Patrick’s Day.
Last spring the Downtown Committee decided to invest in restoring “ghost murals” on a couple of the Deadwood Street historic buildings, specifically the old Gordon Hotel (Chateau Lounge) and Rowe Hardware. Artist Jill Kokesh was hired for artwork on the Chateau and an additional grant was procured from Fort Pierre Tourism to complete the project during the hottest days of summer.
As Office Manager for FPDC, I also sought other grants for the downtown group to complete the tuck pointing (brick restoration) on the Rowe Hardware. I applied for a $30,000 grant from T-Mobile Foundation and a $15,000 grant from South Dakota Community Foundation and Pierre-Fort Pierre Community Foundation. None of these grants were approved so at this time the second “ghost mural” project has not been done. Frankly, committee members would like to see business owners have “skin in the game” and be involved in their own building beautification projects.
Another beautification project that got a lot of attention last summer was the Butterfly Garden in the alley next to the school. The Butterfly Garden engaged the talent of Jill Kokesh, also, in creating a beautiful mural depicting butterflies on the walls surrounding the garden. The Butterfly Garden was the brain child of Kristie Maher and she was assisted in the project by Gold Program kids and champion Ron Schreiner, now deceased, who in spite of the heat and a terminal illness helped clean up the area for the garden. This was not Schreiner’s first garden project, he had championed and maintained the Fort Pierre community garden back in 2015.
The Downtown Committee is focusing on preparing for our 250th Boots & Roots Celebration in conjunction with South Dakota’s Grit & Glory Celebration. Fort Pierre was selected as one of the 25 locations that State Tourism will be promoting on their web site and we want to be ready for company. Banners and flags denoting the 250th will be placed at strategic locations.
Other beautification projects began in 2017 when the Fort Pierre Bicentennial Committee received permission to place the large murals on the Stanley County School’s Parkview building and the old gym. These murals have deteriorated over the last almost 10 years and now the school’s Buffalo Legacy Campaign is hoping to get help from Fort Pierre Tourism to replace them.
In 2021, Fort Pierre Tourism dollars paid for the mural that was created by Jill Kokesh on the side of the historic Yoachim Hotel (Hop Scotch) in Fort Pierre. This definitely drew a lot of attention statewide and acted as a billboard for historic downtown Fort Pierre. At that time, Mayor Hanson said: “The mural has initiated a lot of interest in more murals, and the one that we would be really interested in doing is the old Rowe Hardware, which is now the home of the saddle shop.”
At the SDSU 2025 Energize Conference Keynote Speaker Rebecca Undem said: “What’s going to happen to our towns if we don’t fix our old buildings?” Undem has renovated a 9,000 sq. ft. 100-year-old Ben Franklin building in her town and turned it into a meeting venue.
If Fort Pierre does not cherish its historic buildings, they will lose them and their historic past that goes with those buildings. Standing in the repaved alley behind Deadwood Avenue this past week, my boss and I visited with local historian Darby Nutter who said, “Just think of what Fort Pierre was like in 1900 when all these old brick buildings were being built. Think of all the manpower it took (and I might add horsepower).” He continued, “Fort Pierre was a rip roaring town in 1900.” Nutter was in the process of cleaning up the back of another building in the alley.
Why beautification? It helps to create a place people want to visit. It helps to create a place people want to live. It helps to create pride in your community. “If all we ever do is all that’s been done, nothing new will happen and small towns will die,” – Rebecca Undem.
What would make your love your community more and what are you willing to do to make it happen? Never underestimate the power or a small group to change the world. (Other takeaways from 2025 SDSU Energize Conference)
