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Grant pushes Salce Park forward with fast deadline
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CORRALES — A run-down park in the village is getting help from a grant, but it’s forcing Corrales to work fast.
Salce Park has been on the back burner for some time, but a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund is propelling the rejuvenation project forward. However, Deputy Fire Chief Tanya Lattin says the grant requires the village to specify exactly what it wants out of the park.
The Salce Park Supporters Team, a group made up of supporters and descendants of the family that developed the Sagebrush Subdevision and by extent Salce Park, presented the results of a survey Dec. 4 that narrows down the top wants and needs from the park’s facelift.
“We need a really firm idea of what people want in this park with this grant, and we’re on a big timeline now. Actually, I need to get this done in two weeks,” Lattin said.
She explained that 50% of the project’s construction needs to be complete while it is in design. She said the plan is to put up a non-industrial fence that will fit with the look of the neighborhood.
“Then we can go out and get a full design by a landscape architect to do the drainage plan, the planting plan, (etc.),” she said.
The project is fully funded through federal law via the National Parks, so there is no chance the grant will lose funding, according to Lattin. “That would take an act of Congress,” she said.
If the village is able to complete the grant, it benefits them on the next grant, she added.
“They want to see the park, and the state has said they’re going to keep funding it,” she said.
But before any of that can happen, Lattin said, the village needs to be specific about what they want in the park. She said they need public input for the project, which will serve all of Corrales.
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That’s where the survey came into play. The survey, which ran from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14, received 170 responses, according to the presentation, and the results were telling.
“The community desires Salce Park to be a peaceful, low-maintenance and nature-oriented neighborhood space that provides shade, walking paths, gathering spots, and opportunities for quiet enjoyment and connection,” the survey synopsis states. “Residents overwhelmingly wish for a park that balances the needs of families with children, older adults and dog owners without fundamentally changing the character of the quiet surrounding neighborhood.”
Some of the top concerns and requests asked to keep the park as a quiet oasis friendly to the makeup of Corrales. There were also requests to keep the park animal friendly.
A few community members and councilors attending the meeting had questions and suggestions after the presentation. However, one speaker was interrupted by a hacker on Zoom displaying explicit content. The meeting resumed as soon as Lattin could get the video off of Zoom.
Both the dog park and the children’s play structure were a request. Lattin said some of it depends on the new village administration taking over Jan. 1.
She said the village is also looking to clean out the pond in Salce Park and model it after similar parks like Mariposa Basin Park, which helps mitigate flooding there. The pond, according to several participants, has never been filled. One Zoom attendee asked about the park’s gate being locked if water is in the pond. Lattin said she would look into it.
State Rep. Kathleen Cates, who attended by Zoom, asked if there were any plans to include astronomy in the park, such as adding telescopes. She also sent a link to another possible grant should the project become “shovel ready.”
Lattin liked the idea of adding fixed telescopes to the park and inviting residents to bring their own.
Another resident suggested involving the local children in the project in some way. Lattin said they could do ceramic tiles like they did in the council chambers.
Councilor Bill Woldman, who attended in person, also reminded the group that the project has potential to include work from local volunteers and various committees as well.
“This was a community-driven project to begin with with the petition that went out and the team that came together to put this together. All the work that went into getting the surveys done, it’s all been a community effort,” Lattin said at the end.
“We want to make sure that everyone can enjoy this park, that it is the quiet park that we want, that we follow the Dark Skies (lighting ordinance) because I think it’d be great to go out there and sit at a picnic table as sunset ends.”
The Salce Park Supporters Team sent out one last vote for the community. It ends Dec. 7, and all results they have collected from surveys, votes and meetings will be presented to the council Dec. 16. The presentation was put together by Pamina Deutsch, Bill Perkins, Liz Staley, Joe Tighe and Tara Trafton.
Download PDF file
Work on the project is slated to begin in fall 2026, Lattin said.
