Plans are now underway for the construction of a long-anticipated public park on the northeast side of Las Cruces.
The park will be built in the city’s Mesa Grande Road neighborhood, a part of the city that even though it has experienced great residential growth in the last several decades, remains underserved when it comes to public recreational spaces.
Members of the Las Cruces City Council have given their approval to a resolution calling for the park to be built “within a one-mile radius of Mesa Grande Road and Central Road.”
That area, according to the resolution, is generally regarded as economically depressed with a “high percentage of people of color.”
But the larger area has also seen the creation of two new subdivisions since 2004, as well as the construction of up to 1,000 single-family homes.
The project is expected to be built on at least two acres and will include a playground, picnic shelter, benches, and accessible features, among other amenities.
A site selection process is now underway, the purpose of which is to determine not only an affordable place to build the new park, but one that will be conducive to the vast majority of Mesa Grand Road area residents.
City documents estimate that it will cost around $190,000 for the land needed to build the new park, while the design and construction of it should come in at just under $500,000.
The council resolution is additionally calling for the new park to be built within the next year.
By Garry Boulard
