A couple of decades ago, when I returned to the Black Hills, downtown Rapid City was downright dreary, especially at night. Vacant storefronts, no movie theater — and empty sidewalks after 6 p.m. Like a lot of downtowns, Rapid City’s once-mighty business district was still reeling after its biggest stores moved to the Rushmore Mall in 1978.

But even back then, things were starting to change.

Ray Hillenbrand lavishly restored the historic building at Sixth and Main Street, where he opened Prairie Edge Gallery. Doug Andrews reopened the Elks Theater. Bub Fuchs and his partners turned the Firehouse into a brewpup. Very good restaurants such as Botticelli’s and the Corn Exchange opened. Specialty stores like Global Market and Roamin’ Around Travel Store set up shop – and stayed open in the evenings. Presidential statues started to appear, and Art Alley emerged. More recently Summer Nights on Seventh has created a weekly Thursday night festival during the summer.

These days, downtown Rapid City is far from dreary. It’s downright lively, especially at night.

And yesterday Destination Rapid City unveiled plans for Main Street Square, a public plaza at Sixth and Main across from Prairie Edge. It would be a small park – about a fourth of a block — flanked by shops and arranged around a large water feature (fountain).

This project could shift downtown Rapid City’s long, slow recovery into high gear, making the city center into the center of attention for locals and visitors alike. During summer, Main Street Square would be a venue for music events, farmers markets, shopping trips, political demonstrations, you name it. People would head downtown just to see what’s happening.

The design, by Rundell Ernstberger Associates of Indiana, is pretty ingenious. The street-corner gateway would be flanked by two talk rock formations with waterfalls. The center of the plaza would include a fountain – where kids can splash around – and a grassy open area where people can lounge. In winter, both the grassy area and the fountain would become a skating rink.

The first floor of the city parking garage that faces the plaza would be converted to shops, and the building to the east could also be remodeled into storefronts as well.

But don’t expect to be splashing around next summer at Main Street Square, however. First, the Rapid City Council must approve the plan. And Destination Rapid City still must raise $6.5 million to build it. DRC wants to raise half of that from private donors; the rest would come from the city’s special sales tax fund, called 2012.

So it could be 2012 before we start splashing in that fountain. But it’s better than going back to the moribund days of the early 1990s.