Locals share ideas for Five-Mile Park

The next phase in developing Tucumcari's Five-Mile Park will combine the visions of about 40 Tucumcari residents that landscape architects converted to sketches.

The 40 who participated in the planning session Aug. 14 brainstormed ideas ranging from archery ranges in the park's shooting area, to elevated trails for exploration of the park's wildlife, to a stage for major outdoor music events.

Pat Vanderpool, director of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation, said the event's turnout was more than he expected.

"I never knew we'd get 40 people involved," he said. "People did a great job of getting word out." He also marveled at their "very creative ideas."

The sketches and a sign were pinned to a display board at the Quay County Fair, which started the next day and, Vanderpool said, "we got a lot more input from fair-goers."

Vanderpool explained some of the ideas that became sketches.

One idea was a "seed bomb" area where children could drop seeds onto a small area, then monitor what grows there.

Another proposal included bird blinds, which are raised platforms where children could watch quail and wild turkeys without being seen.

The music stage would stand behind a wall that is part of the old Five-Mile Park swimming pool and would be part of efforts to preserve an imprint of what was once one of the largest municipal swimming pools in the West and a tourist attraction in the 1960s and 1970s. The pool area was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Another idea was to install a splash area for children on space once occupied by the pool.

Other ideas included a walking or bicycling trail to Five-Mile Park from the abandoned Shell Truck Stop a few miles west, which also is receiving attention toward re-use.

Another trail idea would follow the course of the Arch Hurley irrigation canal that flows by Five Mile Park from the Park to Mesalands Community College.

Attila Bality, a planning consultant for the federal National Park Service who has helped coordinate efforts to renovate Five Mile Park, said the Aug. 14 session was one of several steps in a process that began early this year with meetings involving leaders in establishing the park's disc golf course and Quay County Health Council representatives interested in promoting fitness and opportunities for outdoor exercise.

Since then, meetings have involved city and county administrators, police officials and others in the community.

"Whoever came were the right people," he said.

Jitka Dekojava, one of the landscape architects who volunteered to help turn ideas to sketches at the Aug. 14 session, said several times Five-Mile Park "has a lot of potential."

In a tour of the park, she said, she watched a target shooter in the park's shooting range and noted the park's many dirt trails that wind, dip, climb and " a lot of space."

"It's a beautiful setting with nice views," she said.

Her main concern, she said, is connecting the park to the Tucumcari community.

Many thought it was too far to walk. Some get there on horseback, she said.

On a bicycle, "it's not too far," she added.

Soon, she said, "the ball will be in the city's court," and it will up to the city to draw up final plans and find funding.

The park is large enough to include an 18-hole disc golf course, the old swimming pool area, an extensive network of dirt trails and a shooting range. It is five miles west of Tucumcari near Interstate 40.