LAS CRUCES – The Las Cruces International Airport will undergo a transformation that will include new artwork, street design, plants and infrastructure. But what a planned park near the airport will look like is still to be decided.
The Las Cruces City Council approved a master plan for the airport's landscaping at its Tuesday meeting but with one amendment. The plan for a "heritage park" was put on hold so the park could have a few more design options.
The redesign will take 45 extra days and cost $7,500, according to Airport Administrator Andy Hume. About two more designs for the park will be formulated before a final decision is made.
The master plan was created by the firm Sites Southwest using part of $1.1 million allocated to the city through capital outlay in 2019 for airport improvements.
The city had discussed the landscape master plan in a work session in September as part of a larger discussion of its goal to resume commercial passenger service at the airport. In order to achieve that goal, beautifying the airport was deemed a necessity.
The landscape plan consists of adding native plants and incorporating natural desert terrain along the tree-lined Crawford Boulevard leading up to the airport, including in some new medians, and installing recognizable art piece at the airport's entryway at the intersection of Crawford and Frontage Road, which would signify someone's arrival at the airport.
The plan calls for infrastructure to capture storm runoff which would be used to irrigate trees and plants along streets and roads in the airport area. Redesigning the passenger drop-off area to make it more pedestrian-friendly, by adding crosswalks and a pedestrian refuge, is also part of the plan.
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Two roundabouts are under consideration for Crawford if development ramps up around the airport.
The plan also calls for the creation of a “heritage park,” which would display local aviation history and decommissioned aircraft. But the city's Airport Advisory Board, at a December meeting, voted to recommend the council hold off on authorizing the park and look a few more design options.
"The overall goals for the heritage park are really to create a place where Las Cruces can celebrate its aviation history," said Sites Southwest Senior Landscape Principal George Radnovich. The presented plan for the park was for it to be elevated so visitors could view the entire airport from atop a hill.
Hume said the board was concerned the 15-foot elevation at the north end of the park could block the view of the terminal from travelers driving on Crawford into the airport. The board also said other sites, such as the south end of the park, could serve as a better viewing area of the airport.
Including the park, it was estimated the final cost to complete the landscaping and infrastructure would be $2.5 million. The park itself was estimated to cost $455,000.
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Hume said the delay in the park design won't hold up the first phase of the plan's implementation, which will consist of "entryway treatment on Crawford" and "landscaping upgrades" along Crawford heading north toward Zia Boulevard.
Phase one of the improvements will be funded using $125,000 of the capital outlay. Hume said there will likely be a total of four to six phases of improvements.
Hume said he's hoping the beautification endeavor attracts businesses to the airport area. A second Jim Bobs BBQ recently opened inside one of the terminals.
Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, [email protected] or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Here's how the city is planning to beautify Las Cruces International Airport
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