A former drainage facility is being transformed into what town leaders hope will be one of the jewels of the Bernalillo Parks Department.
The Bosque Park, a small diamond-shaped grassy park between Calle San Lorenzo and Calle Maderna on Camino del Bosque on the south side of town, will soon have new playground equipment installed, thanks to the efforts of state Rep. Derrick J. Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) and the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority (ESCAFCA).
In the past, neighborhoods to the west and northwest of the property experienced severe drainage issues during heavy rains. ESCAFCA stepped in to help the town by creating a system of drop-inlets that collected and diverted stormwater, preventing flooding and erosion. This system channeled the water into the park area, which served as a drainage facility.
“The facility wouldn’t be there if not for our partnership with the ESCAFCA because it was town property but it was just dirt, I mean, it was not pretty, it was not nice,” Mayor Jack Torres said. “We had that need for drainage and they were willing to step up and support us and getting that done.”
According to Torres, Lente allocated $125,000 for the park equipment last year. To reduce installation costs, the public works staff have taken on the task themselves, beginning with the installation of a large shade structure.
“On top of all their other duties, they’re the ones that put in the shade structure and they’ll be the ones to install all the playground equipment,” he said. “So it won’t be the fastest insulation because of everything else they have to do but it’s a way for us to do it within budget.”
The playground equipment installation will proceed slowly as summer is one of the busiest periods for the crews responsible for maintaining the town’s parks.
Once the crews finish the installation in the Bosque Park, staff will shift over to Rotary Park to install large shade sail structures over the playground equipment, according to Torres.
Sandoval County Commissioners Katherine Bruch and Joshua Jones allocated funds for the shade structures. Bruch, whose district encompasses most of the Town of Bernalillo, contributed $25,000, while Jones, who also represents a portion of the town, contributed $10,000.
“Commissioner Jones only has a small piece of Bernalillo on the west side, but he sees us as his constituency and was generous in providing that support. So we were very appreciative of that,” Torres said.