ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A troublesome park in the International District could soon be getting a makeover in hopes of giving families in the area a safe place to gather. “The community center here is very vibrant, very well-used, people love their community center,” said Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers.
A popular community center is butted up to what Rogers believes is a neglected city park in her district. “We need to start treating the grass we need to start you know doing other little things that I see happening in other areas,” said Rogers.
Mesa Verde Park on Marquette and Pennsylvania has become an eyesore. It has drawn complaints from neighbors over problems like graffiti, and homeless encampments. Back in 2019 staff at the park were doing daily sweeps to clean up needles littered on the ground.
The constant complaints grabbed Rogers’s attention and now she wants to help make some changes. “It’s important to me because it’s important to the people that surround this area,” said Rogers.
The city received some state funding for a remodel project last legislative session and Rogers is now suggesting the Parks and Rec Department apply for a federal grant to help get the job done. “Those kids deserve nice things too and so we should have that,” said Rogers.
If awarded, the money would allow them to create recreational sports areas for soccer and pickleball, replace old equipment, improve landscaping, and even add a dog park. “We’ll keep the basketball courts because the community really loves the basketball courts, so we’ll just freshen that up,” said Rogers.
But will a few cosmetic upgrades solve the problem? Rogers thinks it’s a good first step. “Why do we want to clean up the parks there they are just going to get messed up right? But that’s the wrong mentality to have I think that the dis-investment in this park is what caused the problem to be a problem,” said Rogers.
If approved, Rogers says they’ll do construction in phases and the work should take about a year to complete.
