Plans for the steady influx of families to the Black Hills for the B-21 Raider

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - The new B-21 Raider will be unveiled in Palmdale, California in a couple of months. But while the aircraft is being shown to the public, plans are still in the works here in the Black Hills to accommodate the steady influx of military families to the area.

“Obviously, there’s some impact from that growth, and the main couple areas that were focused on are housing and schools,” said Scott Landguth of the South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority. “We’ve been working aggressively with the private sector to make sure that more homes are built, and the homes that are built are in the airmen’s affordability range,”

With the growth of families in the Black Hills better housing and bigger schools are needed, but funding is still an issue according to the Douglas School District.

“At this point, the plans have been done for the elementary school and for the high school,” said Douglas School District communications coordinator Katy Urban “We have land for both of the sites, so, we’ve done about as much as we can do without funding,”

This means that for the district to get more money it might have to come from additional partnerships, other than what the state and federal governments provide.

“They’re working to get us more money through the National Defense Authorization Act, but we know that that’s not going to cover all of the costs,” said Urban. “So, it’s just going to take more time, more meetings, and more partnerships to really get this done.”

Meanwhile, as plans to accommodate more people in the Black Hills continue, back in California, the B-21 Raider is expected to take off for the first test flights next year.

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