Farmington outdoor rec boom: Find out about Boundless Journey, surf waves, 2 more projects

Of the four major parks or outdoor recreation projects the city of Farmington has planned, residents likely can expect to see significant progress being made on at least two of them in 2024, city officials say.

They are the Boundless Journey Adventure Park, an ADA-compliant facility intended to accommodate families and their children with differing abilities, and a build-out that includes a pavilion, plaza and food truck court at the planned Gateway Park near the Animas River.

All four projects, including one on the river and the other of a recreational area in far north Farmington, involve tens of millions of dollars in grants and public investment. Some are only partially funded, which may explain why the time frame for their completion remains cloudy.

But all of the projects are designed to serve as major quality-of-life upgrades for Farmington residents, and city officials have big expectations for how they might attract even more residents or visitors in the future.

“We’re pretty excited about all these,” Warren Unsicker, Farmington’s economic development director, said, adding that he considers the projects potentially transformative. “ … More and more, we’re hearing about people moving here because of all the outdoor amenities we can provide.”

Read on to learn more about each of the four proposals.

Boundless Journey Adventure Park: What's planned in 2024?

Sitting atop the list is the $13 million Boundless Journey Adventure Park, an 8-acre project at 317 W. Apache St. on the site of the old Tibbets Middle School. The park is envisioned as a recreational attraction that provides universal accessibility and all-inclusive amenities for play, therapy and fitness.

Natalie Spruell, the city’s interim director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, said two projects related to the park likely will go out to bid over the next few months. The first one is the addition of restrooms to the only remaining structure on the property, the old Tibbets Middle School library. The second project will involve the construction of phase one of the park itself.

Spruell said she anticipates ground will be broken on the phase one project this spring. But she did not have an estimate for when that section of the park will be finished and opened to the public, explaining that determination likely won’t be made until a contractor is hired and a schedule is established.

The park will feature various elements designed to mimic the natural landscape, including artificial buttes, mesas, boulders and canyons. It also will include an amphitheater, water-catchment and funneling areas, a “willow tunnel,” an all-wheels area suitable for skateboarders, in-line skaters and people in wheelchairs, climbing nets and textured surfaces on walls and walkways designed to appeal to the senses of touch and hearing.

Approximately $4.5 million has been raised for the park so far, and Spruell said that amount will cover the restroom and phase one projects. Phases two and three will be added when the balance of the funding has been secured.

Deputy city manager Julie Baird has said it could be 2026 or 2027 before the entire project is completed.

One element of the property that remains popular and heavily used is the walking track on the east end. Spruell said the track — which is located in the section of the park that would encompass phases two and three — will remain open and accessible during the phase one construction.

Farmington Growers Market getting a pavilion: More on Gateway Park build-out

The second project that should get underway in the months ahead is the new pavilion on the west side of the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park, the first element in the city’s planned Gateway Park along the Animas River. The city has received a $300,000 federal grant to cover the cost of the project, and Unsicker said the goal is to have the pavilion in place and ready for use when the Farmington Growers Market season commences late this spring.

Final engineering studies for the project are being completed, and when that phase of the work is done, Unsicker said the city can begin looking for a contractor to build a slab and assemble a prefabricated pavilion on the site. The structure will be wired for electricity and wireless internet service, and it will include public restrooms.

When it is not being used by the growers market, the pavilion will be available for lease as a special events center for wedding receptions, parties and other festive occasions, Unsicker said.

The territory around the pavilion eventually will be developed into Gateway Park. Designs for the first phase of that project call for the addition of an amphitheater, festival plaza, food truck court, shade promenade and considerable amount of landscaping with berms and trees.

The city received a $500,000 Destination Forward grant from the New Mexico Department of Tourism in November for that project, which is still in its initial stage.

Introducing surfing waves, whitewater rafting on Animas River

Only a short distance away, the third project on the city’s list — the construction of an underwater structure creating a standing wave on the Animas River — will be built. The wave will be designed to provide surfing and whitewater rafting opportunities to river users.

The city has secured a $2 million grant from one of the Gold King Mine spill settlement funds for the project, which also includes an irrigation diversion dam and a fish ladder that allows the river’s inhabitants to continue their natural progression downstream. Unsicker said the city has been conducting surveying work to determine the boundaries of the project, then engineering work and environmental impact studies will follow.

He said work on the actual underwater barrier itself is not likely to begin in 2024, but if it does, it would be late in the year.

Update on Juniper Basin Recreation Area proposal

The final project the city is focused on, the Juniper Basin Recreation Area located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Foothills Drive and Hood Mesa Trail in far north Farmington, is a 93-acre site that will be developed for biking and hiking.

In January 2023, the city secured a grant of nearly $100,000 from the Outdoor Recreation Division of the New Mexico Economic Development Department to help fund the project. Plans call for phase one of the park to include a parking area, a bike recreation area and nearly a half-mile of single-track trail, according to The Daily Times archives.

The phase one work will cover only 10 acres of the 93-acre site and require $1.2 million in funding, Unsicker said. The final 5% of the design work is being completed now, he said.

City officials envision the project featuring a number of drop jumps, ramps, and a pump track and tot track, along with restrooms. The second and third phases of the project likely would not be as pricey as the first phase, Unsicker said, because they will consist of fewer structures and more trails of varying skill levels.

He said city officials have applied for numerous grants that would help pay for the construction work, and he is expecting to find out the fate of those applications in the months ahead.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Farmington has 4 big park, outdoor rec projects in 2024 and beyond