When the sun starts to set in Chaparral, the Dolores Wright Center Park comes to life.
Basketball courts are filled with players, parents surround a playground where children play, an abandoned tennis court holds five-on-five street soccer matches, and organized youth soccer games are held on nearby fields.
Residents in Chaparral, like Daniel Kerr, have been very vocal about the possible closure of the park. Kerr, who uses the park to rollerblade, says that people come here to play sports and be active.
“I would actually be afraid because if you close down the park, where are those things going to happen. How is the health of the community going to suffer? How are the kids going to have anything healthy that competes against the video games that are drawing them to stay sedentary in their house.”
Doña Ana County Director of Public Information, Jess Williams said in an emailed response on the possible closure last week:
“There are no plans at this time to shut down the parks in Chaparral except for the skate park, which has reached the end of its useful life and has become dangerous.” Williams adds, “Demolition of that facility will begin next week. The county is actively seeking legislative funding for a replacement skate park on the same site.”
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With the skate park soon closing, skaters in the community recently decided to come to the park for one last competition. El Chuco SkateMag sponsored the event. Cassandra Flores is with the Skate Magazine.
“I think it’s very important that they have an activity. I mean that’s what we are lacking is an activity for our teens these days, cause they have nothing else to do,” says Flores.
Skate park users like Daniel Kerr say they are concerned that they will not have a local have a place to skate in the meantime, and they hope the county will consider their input while planning for renovations and replacements at the skate park.
“We can repair it, and we want to repair it and there’s plenty of people who want to keep using this skate park, and so we are willing to work with them,” says Kerr.
Kerr says he plans to address the Doña Ana County Commission at an upcoming meeting.
Doña Ana County District Two Commissioner Dr. David Garcia was at the competition; He says that he hopes the county listens to the input of the skaters who use the skate park.
“We need to do that as a governing body. We need to listen to our kids, they’re the experts; they are the ones using the skating board platforms. And so, they’re more aware they use it everyday."
