In a Work Session this afternoon, Monday, July 13, City Council discussed the options for the East Mesa Recreation Complex Master Plan and agreed to move forward with the preferred plan.
The plan is a combination of the two options that garnered the highest approval during public meetings conducted after approval of the 2018 General Obligation (GO) Bond.
Staff conducted numerous meetings during the past several months, and through virtual presentations, planned improvements were determined by more than 100 comments and feedback left by Las Cruces residents.
After collecting the public’s comments, staff added the step of accommodating future expansion by incorporating the development of a Master Plan to allow for strategic and planned growth. This, along with the recent Public Health Order that asked for employees to remote work where possible, has caused a three to six month delay from the original conceptual estimate to begin construction. However, the original conceptual estimate did have the project being completed nine months before the end of the GO Bond cycle. Therefore, the project is still ahead of the final deadline.
The City and design firm offered residents three options to comment on, and after the review, staff combined two of the three options into what is now called the “Preferred Plan.” The Preferred Plan includes sports fields (football/soccer/multi-use), pickle ball courts, baseball fields, a ten-acre park, maintenance yards with shed, concession areas, trails, walkways, and roads, plus the space for more sports fields, baseball fields, and pickle ball courts when future funding is available.
With Council’s approval of the preferred option, developers are now ready to begin the schematic design of the project and will expedite the remaining design in order to complete the design and begin bidding of the project by early winter 2020.
For updates on this as well as all other GO Bond projects, please go to the City’s portal that has near real time updates to each projects estimated schedule:
http://las-cruces.org/1892/General-Obligation-Bond-Projects.