ABQjournal: Volunteers' Work on Entrada Park Moving Forward

This article appeared in the Santa Fe Journal section of the Albuquerque Journal on 12 January 2005:

PARK IN PROGRESS
By Helen Gaussoin
For the Journal

City workers and members of the Don DIego Neighborhood Association install the foundation for future landscaping in Entrada Park

After numerous delays, volunteers say work
on Entrada Park once again moving forward

Neighborhood volunteers working on the park at the north entrance of the Don Diego neighborhood say the project has been delayed for a number of reasons, but it is getting back on track.
    Work on the park south of the intersection of Cerrillos Road and Guadalupe Street began more than six years ago. It was touted as a pilot project for a program in which neighborhoods and the city would work cooperatively to turn empty lots into neighborhood parks. A groundbreaking ceremony with local dignitaries took place in October 2002, and some infrastructure was built. Then nothing happened.
    "We sort of got bogged down," said Hubert VanHecke, a Don Diego Neighborhood Association member involved in the planning of the park. "We dropped the ball a few times, and the city dropped the ball a few times."
    Progress on the project is dependent on volunteers, and it isn't always easy to get a crew together, he said. "I don't want to point fingers. It's a volunteer project. We needed some stonework, and we aren't stoneworkers. We didn't get back to the city for a long time."
    Just in the last few weeks, neighborhood volunteers with help from the city have started to line two ditches with rock for dry stream beds and begun to put in plants.
    "This time for sure" the neighborhood will make progress on the park, VanHecke said.
    Anna Richards, another neighborhood volunteer, said the project hasn't really been delayed. "It just took a while to make all the decisions."
    She said getting city approval for the design took some time, but the curbs and gutters and electrical and irrigation lines are already in. The neighborhood has started the landscaping, and bulbs planted by Whole Foods should bloom in the spring.

Picture of Anna sitting on one of the walls

Anna Richards and other members of the Don Diego Neighborhood Association have been working on Entrada Park at the corner of Don Diego and Cerrillos for several years.

"Part of what took so long was that our priority was to make it pedestrian friendly and attractive, to maximize green over paved. The city's concern, of course, was compliance with traffic safety and turning radiuses. The neighborhood wanted to take advantage of any flexibility in the city ordinance and was willing to put a lot of time into negotiating. That slowed things down," Richards said.
    In addition, she said, it's a big project for volunteers.
    VanHecke agreed: "Looking back, it's always more work than you think it will be."
    Both said the end result will be worth it.
    "We wanted to preserve the residential character of the neighborhood. We wanted to make it more pedestrian friendly," Richards said. "The intersection has gotten so busy, and we wanted to encourage people to walk downtown. A shady spot might encourage that."
    Some of the Don Diego volunteers have also been involved in the Railyard development. Another goal was to make the park part of the development of the space just on the other side of Guadalupe Street, in the Railyard.
    "In the end, it will be a little oasis," VanHecke said. He said the city has agreed to keep three sculptures in the garden on a two-year rotation schedule. The trees going in now are small but will provide ample shade when mature, and the rest of the landscaping is xeriscaping, so it will not need extra water after it is established.
    Richards said the neighborhood has been helped by the Santa Fe Botanical, which helped select the plants and trees, and Whole Foods, which donated money and labor, among others. But the neighborhood could still use help.
    People who want to get more experience in drought-tolerant design are welcome to help, she said.

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