F-4 Monument Park Facts: A Community Effort with Support of the City

The Alamogordo Daily News ran a story concerning the Gateway Freedom Monument Park that will occupy a small swath of land as one enters Alamogordo from the bypass.  While AlamogordoTownNews.org wholeheartedly supports the efforts behind this park we also believe the article to be disingenuous in some of the facts presented.

Indeed the Chamber of Commerce, under the leadership of Jarrett Perry, was the driving force in organizing, and pushing the project forward, gathering support of the building industry community, and private donors to facilitate the project. That is all to be commended.

However, the statement in the article where "Perry noted that this monument is built solely with donations and not funded by taxpayer dollars" is not quite correct.  A majority of the budget is privately funded, but about $25,000 of taxpayer dollars have been expended towards the project. This was verified via a request for information from the City of Alamogordo. Over a few weekends paid staff, and volunteers from the city, have partnered with 100s of hours of community volunteers, to bring this park to life.

Further, once this park opens in November,  a date announced which was a surprise to city leadership, (as they have not been given formal notice of opening date), the city staff and taxpayers will then have the responsibility to maintain it, keep it clean, and ensure the safety of the community using it.

Some will argue the priority of the city needs to be to fix its roads. That priority all agree with, however the city can do both. It can help in the facilitation and longterm upkeep of this new park all the while facilite road repairs. 

Via local contractors the bridge on 10th street just reopened, that project while it took longer than hoped for, was re-opened to create a safe pathway for citizens and created much needed, good paying jobs for local contractors- a win/win for the community.

The F-4 park is another win/win for the community, but lets be clear the city and the taxpayers have a role in the new park now, and once opened.

The park is a gallant effort at helping to shape a better image for Alamogordo, just as the enhancements going on via Alamogordo MainStreet; each are impressive parts of reimagining Alamogordo's future. 

We must always pay tribute to our past, from it's foundings as a railroad town, to it role in the development of the atom bomb, to its present role in hosting and training elite fighter pilots and testing the newest of technologies near its borders for our military.

Alamogordo plays an important role in the history and fabric of the American story.

Equally important is to recognize that leadership of the city of Alamogordo, and its body politic, has also influenced it's history from the founding of the city itself to supporting efforts to build an F4 park, the city of Alamogordo, representing its people has played an important role.

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