City Seeks Public Input for Renovation of Barelas Park
The City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department is planning a major renovation of Barelas Park in the midst of one of the City’s oldest neighborhoods. With $1.2 million in federal grant funding from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the renovation will involve a complete redesign of the 3.5-acre park located between the Barelas Community Center and Barelas Senior Center on 8th Street SW.
“We want to hear from everyone living and working around Barelas Park to help us create a fun and exciting new design for this park,” stated Dave Simon, Director of Parks and Recreation. “This is one of Albuquerque’s oldest neighborhoods, and it deserves a park that brings the community together to play and relax. Help us make Barelas Park one of our City’s best parks.”
The City and design consultant, MRWM Landscape Architects, are planning several public engagement activities, including an event at the park to inform the community about the project and receive input about what they would like to see in the new park. A variety of formats will be offered to allow the community to provide input, including a scavenger hunt and self-guided tour to familiarize themselves with the park and also a survey which will be offered in hard copy and online. Surveys will be made available online at www.barelaspark.org beginning Monday, October 5. Hard copies of the survey and other activities will be distributed at the grab and go lunch programs at Dolores Gonzales Elementary School and the Barelas Senior Center in addition to several local businesses.
On Saturday, October 17 from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM, the City and MRWM will host an event at Barelas Park. The event will feature multiple stations with a variety of activities including making ‘wish objects,’ completing hard copy surveys, chalk drawings, bubble concept diagrams, and games to help the design team understand what people would like to see in the park. Masks are required by all participants, and each station will be limited to nine participants at a time and will be arranged to allow for social distancing to comply with the current Public Health Order.