Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A.J. Moya Little League Field in Tucumcari is shown last week. The City of Tucumcari will receive a $2 million state recreation grant to improve that field and one other at the westside complex.
The City of Tucumcari will receive $2 million from a state recreation fund that the city manager said will be used to improve its Little League fields and the Tucumcari Recreation Center.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office last week announced a total of $40 million in grants from the Regional Recreation Centers and Quality of Life Grants fund.
The grant awards were announced in a news release Wednesday afternoon, just before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Tucumcari city manager Paula Chacon rejoiced at the news of the city's grant award.
"Yes!" Chacon exclaimed. "That's great news."
Chacon said the money would be used to improve the city's Little League fields off South 14th Street.
Hundreds of children in the Quay County Little League program use the fields each summer.
On Monday, Chacon said she also would use funds to repair the Tucumcari Recreation Center, which has had leaky a roof for years.
Bo Wallace, director of the Tucumcari Recreation Center and an officer for Quay County Little League, said in a phone interview Friday he'd worked with the city planning department to develop a "wish list" for the fields.
Wallace said a tentative list of improvements for the two fields include more bathrooms, new bleachers, shade structures and new sod.
The city a year ago also received a $216,000 state recreation grant to repair its municipal swimming pool that had been closed since 2019. The city was unable to make repairs in time to reopen the pool this year, but Chacon has said it would reopen for the season in May 2024.
Recreation-related grants last week were awarded to 57 projects in New Mexico. Regional Recreation Centers and Quality of Life Grants go to projects such as community centers, skateparks, rodeo grounds, picnic shelters and other structures.
Other area entities that received grants included:
- Town of Clayton, $2 million for an events center in the county fairgrounds property;
- Curry County, $376,850 for the Curry County Event Center;
- Village of Fort Sumner, $383,452 for Bosque Redondo Lake Park project to install a basketball court and volleyball court with bleachers, new sidewalks, lighting, electricity and a pavilion;
- Village of Grady, $189,640, improvements for a village park;
- Village of Melrose, $573,363 for improvements to Melrose Baxter Memorial Park;
- Portales, $997,000 for Enhance Healthy Living program;
- Roosevelt County, $1.01 million for fair and rodeo grounds enhancements;
- City of Santa Rosa, $211,720 for Santa Rose Blue Hold Park improvements.
Funds will be delivered by reimbursement over two years, the news release stated.
"Having access to quality recreational facilities and outdoor spaces in your own backyard supports healthier, stronger communities and families," Lujan Grisham stated. "This $40 million investment will provide New Mexicans with quality spaces to gather and play from Clayton to Carlsbad."
