Park To Honor Clinton Anderson
Ribbon-cutting for Open Space Set for Saturday
Clinton P. Anderson helped lead the country into the space era and was a pioneer when it came to preserving wilderness.
Anderson, a South Valley Democrat, served as a U.S. senator from 1949 to 1973, but the former politician, who died in 1975, has hardly been recognized in his home community.
Bernalillo County Commission chair Art De La Cruz said that’s precisely why naming the county’s newest open space after him was so important. The county will mark the park’s opening with a celebration this Saturday at 10 a.m.
The Clinton P. Anderson park was developed on land where Anderson’s home once stood, just south of Rio Bravo near the intersection of Isleta and Clinton SW. The park is across the street from Adobe Acres Elementary. Anderson owned most of the land in the immediate area.
“This was his home,” said Clay Campbell, the county’s Parks and Recreation Department planning manager, on Tuesday, while giving a tour of the park to the Journal. “So was the elementary school, the shopping center across the street and this neighborhood. His legacy was pretty powerful and being from the South
Valley, we wanted to recognize him.”
During his tenure, Anderson was the lead sponsor in the Senate for the 1964 Wilderness Act. He was an outspoken supporter of the country’s space program, acting as chair of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences from 1963 to 1973.
The county transformed the 3.4-acre dirt lot into an area with grass, trees, benches, a walking path and play equipment. Campbell said the 11 mature cottonwood trees on the property set the tone for the design.
“We wanted to do everything to protect these trees,” he said.
The county also planted a field of about 20 new cottonwoods in the far north corner of the park. A row of pine trees was planted along the park’s entire west border to provide a buffer for nearby homes.
Campbell said the county worked with the Adobe Acres Neighborhood Association to design the park.
“They did not want to see basketball courts or tennis courts or anything like that,” he said. “They wanted to keep these trees. Rio Bravo park right down the road offers all those amenities, so we didn’t see the point of having that here.”
Instead, the county went for a more natural setting. It planted native grasses, and the walking path is made of crushed fine material or ground rocks. The playground is minimal and includes a manufactured boulder and tree stump, and mounds of dirt.
“The mounds of dirt are a little experiment,” he said. “We want to provide some unstructured play. We want kids to bring their shovels and trucks and have a good time.”
The county bought the property for $1.5 million in 2008 using money that former South Valley Rep. James Taylor was able to get for the project. Transforming the property cost the county about $360,000.
“He was an amazing figure for not only this community, but for this nation,” De La Cruz said of Anderson. “We are finally recognizing a man from the South Valley who was an icon.”