City approves newest park

ALAMOSA — Alamosa’s newest park will be in the Montana Azul Subdivision, an area on south Craft Drive with many families but no nearby park.

The city council last week created the Montana Azul Park, which will be renamed in the future with input from the public, Alamosa Parks & Recreation Director Andy Rice explained. Currently it is named for the subdivision where it will be located.

Rice said the city will be applying for Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) funding to establish the park, which will span south Craft Drive. He said the park will serve a dual purpose as a storm water detention area as well as a park, something that is popular throughout the southwest.

“This is a much needed project,” Rice said.

The 5.6-acre park proposes to include: a soccer field, parking areas, pavilions, walking trial, basketball court, restrooms, trees and ADA-compliant playground area. These are the items the residents of the subdivision prioritized, Rice said.

He said the estimated cost for the park is $450-470,00, and the city will be submitting an application for GOCO funding on Nov. 2 of $300,000-350,000.

Councilman Charles Griego thanked staff for pursuing the park in this area.

“It’s growing and it’s going to continue to grow,” he said.

He added that the dual purpose for the park was a great idea.

Councilor Ty Coleman agreed that the storm water detention area/park idea was a great concept. He also commended staff for holding community meetings in that area outside where adults and children gathered to share their ideas for what they would like to see in the park. Children drew their ideas on the sidewalk in chalk.

“It’s a really great idea to have a park in that area because there are a lot of children there,” added Councilman Michael Stefano.

Mayor Josef Lucero said he saw that having the park on both sides of Craft could be a problem with traffic crossing between the park areas.

“That may be an issue for us in the future,” he said, “something we are going to need to address.”

He also saw potential dust problems with the unpaved Road South 108.

Alamosa City Manager Heather Brooks said staff had discussed the issue of pedestrian safety on Craft where the park will be located, and they will be monitoring that closely and will look at ways of addressing it, for example with signage. Regarding Road 108, she said developers generally pay for paving in subdivisions, but a special improvement district might be a solution to paving that street. The property owners would pay for the paving if a special improvement district were set up.