Save the 10th Street Rose Garden With Many Hands Needs Your Call Out to the City

The once beautiful Rose Garden located at 10th Street for many years was maintained by the Desert Flowering Garden Club and  the Alamogordo Parks and Recreation Department cut the surround grass and maintained the water supply as operational.

Sadly the Desert Flowering Garden Club has all but disbanded as many members aged out and the organization was unable to gain new younger members to carry forward. As such the once beautiful park  has not been taking care of and rose’s are neglected and have been for the last year. 

The site is now on the “Adopt a spot” Keep Alamogordo Beautiful list. Another concern, we have been told, but not confirmed, that the Keep Alamogordo Beautiful Group is at risk of disappearing, with the intern who was assisting the group leaving the position, and the city to date may not slot it to be refilled? Why? 

Thus as of right now, no one is taking care of the gardens.

There is a solution! 

With Many Hands, Alamogordo already has a letter of agreement to help operate a few community garden locations such as the one by the Dudley School, one in the New York Avenue Alley Way, potentially one behind McKinley as a potential joint collaboration and would be a natural fit for the rose garden.

With a little assistance from the city, in to helping facilitate a grant request, there is available state and federal funds available, that when used for gardening projects, in partnership with the many volunteers of With Many Hands Alamogordo, this neglected corner garden, could again be a beautiful location. It could also be expanded to be roses plus another community garden location. 

First, the city should reach out to With Many Hands and offer them the opportunity to rehabilitate this property to its once former beauty. Then, the city could assist in seeking available grant money to expand the beauty. 

We call on the city to award a mutual agreement between itself and With Many Hands Alamogordo to take over its plant upkeep of the 10th Street Rose Garden.

With Many Hands Alamogordo has already proven itself resourceful and capable as a community partner in assisting the city with beautiful gardens by Dudley and those in the New York Avenue alley way.

There is already reclaimed water on the site, so it is easier to maintain verses some sites within the city for a community garden

The city should award an agreement with the WMH organization and should invest a minimal amount from its parks budget for new bulbs and roses and the basics needed so the partnership could quickly turn this location into a vibrant and beautiful garden area,  it once was again.

We call on our readers to submit letters and emails to the city of Alamogordo to facilitate this partnership with With Many Hands Alamogordo and to encourage the city to hire another intern for Keep Alamogordo Beautiful to keep that program moving forward as well. Send letters to each commissioner and copy the City Clerk and the City Manager to 
rhughs@ci.alamogordo.nm.us, rholden@ci.alamogordo.nm.us

And copy the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and each of the city commissioners at…

spayne@ci.alamogordo.nm.us,
smcdonald@ci.alamogordo.nm.us,
npaul@ci.alamogordo.nm.us, sburnett@ci.alamogordo.nm.us,

wrobinson@ci.alamogordo.nm.us, 
jrardin@ci.alamogordo.nm.us, 
mtapley@ci.alamogordo.nm.us

Together citizens and city leadership can indeed maintain our beauty and enhance the availability of fresh foods and flowers for our community of Alamogordo