Just over $11.7 million will target a series of park improvements in the most populous county in New Mexico, depending upon the results of the November election.
Members of the Bernalillo County Board of County Commission earlier this summer voted in favor of putting on the ballot six questions, all proposing individual public infrastructure construction and upgrade projects, with question number three focusing on park and recreational facilities work.
By design, a $11.7 million bond will fund everything from planning, designing, building, and improving any number of park facilities, with a special emphasis on making certain that all such facilities meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
Those projects include the phase four work on the Mesa del Sol Regional Recreation Complex, at 5601 University Boulevard SE, which will receive $2.2 million in bond support; and the phase two and phase three work at the Raymond G. Sanchez Community Center, located at 9800 4th Street NW.
The Sanchez work is earmarked for site and parking lot work, as well as the building of a fitness center and locker rooms.
A project that has been long studied and discussed will see $400,000 in bond funding for work at the Westside Community Center at 1250 Isleta Boulevard SW, with the funded projects to include demolition, design, and construction work.
Exactly $1.5 million in bond funding will be allocated for the phased work at the Sandia Ranch Ag-Life Center off Edith Boulevard just to the north of Osuna Road. The project will include both design and construction work.
One of the smaller projects to be funded by the bond will see $150,000 going for design, construction, and aquatics improvements the Paradise Hills Aquatics Facility at 5901 Paradise Boulevard NW.
An executive summary compiled by the Bernalillo County Manager’s Office this summer said that all of the proposed projects were designed to “promote economic development by improving the country’s infrastructure and ability to retain, attract, and grow businesses.”
In public presentations Bernalillo officials have noted the importance of building and improving in-demand park facilities in a county whose population has grown by more than 120,000 in the last two decades for a current 676,000.
October 28, 2024
By Garry Boulard
Photo Courtesy of Pixabay
