Commentary: Oh, let's take a break from presidential politics. Sometimes you have to get up, shelve Facebook, put Twitter in a birdcage, and take a walk in your community. Political professionals and we, the parasitic columnists and talkers, often lose ourselves in the the corrupt logic of Washington and lose sight of our best aspirations.
Long walks around your town, talking to your neighbors, getting to know the trees and the dogs, peeking in the windows of empty buildings, all refresh your perspective. To focus on Washington is to be trapped in a world of doublespeak and diminished expectations. At the local level, you can reclaim the art of the possible. This vacant lot could be a community garden, this building could be a youth center, this intersection could be made safer, and so on. We see needs and envision the steps toward solutions. The difference between a community activist and a mere kibbitzer is one of determination rather than matter.
For some time, I've had such thoughts about the skate park on Pine Street near the west end of Deming, where I live. While I prefer to keep my feet on the ground and not on a board, it seems clear that skate parks are an important resource for a city's youth. Silver City and Las Cruces both feature lovely poured-concrete skate parks with bowls, dips, ramps, and street sections all fashioned in cement, easy to maintain and keep clean.
Deming, unfortunately, went the route of above-ground modular equipment on a lot at the edge of town. As reported last week in the Deming Headlight, the park was initially funded by Luna County, which cleared the lot and brought in ramps made of fiberglass, steel, and plastic. The lifespan of this equipment is 5-10 years before it succumbs to rust, delamination, and structural failure - sometimes with injury resulting. The obsolescence is beneficial for the companies that manufacture the equipment, but with municipal budgets tight modular parks end up sitting neglected, as in Deming.
"There's many advantages to concrete over modular," says one of the park's regulars, William Chettinger of Deming. "Concrete's typically harder to actually cause damage to, more stable, it'll last longer, and there's more that can be done with a concrete park...I feel like if they're going to do anything with the park, turning it all-concrete is what I'd want to see."
As a non-skater, I find the concrete parks more pleasing aesthetically than dilapidated modular parks, though tastes may vary. Moreover, the concrete parks are remarkably quieter when in use, which local businesses and homes surely appreciate, whereas the fabricated equipment turns into so many tuneless drums.
Thus, the art of the possible arises. Imagine Deming's skaters involved in designing a concrete skate park. Imagine the concrete and other materials being supplied by Deming businesses with Deming workers. Imagine a refurbished park that requires less maintenance with better visual appeal that serves the community better.
Chettinger also envisions sympathetic business opportunities. For refreshments, "we have the Diamond Shamrock across the street but you have to cross a busy street to get to it, most of us just go to the Pic Quik, but...a small business closer wouldn't be unwelcome." Besides food and drink, a business could also sell supplies for the odd replacement wheel or bearing, and minor first aid items. What if skaters ran a small cooperative themselves? What if they offered classes and equipment?
This is what happens you take a walk in your own town and talk to people. Good things seem possible again.
--
Algernon D'Ammassa writes the Desert Sage column for the Deming Headlight and Sun News papers. Write to him at DesertSageMail@gmail.com.