Red Rock Park getting some long overdue TLC
It has been a longtime coming due to labor shortages, supply chain issues and the ongoing quest for funding, but Gallupians will finally start seeing improvements to Red Rock Park.
Now with some state money in hand, McKinley County is making some changes to make the park tidier and more user-friendly. The county took over park management from the city in August 2022.
“All these years, all we’ve ever done with the park is Band-Aid the facility,” Gallup Mayor Louie Bonaguidi said at the time.
The county almost immediately increased full-time park staff from three people to 10 just for maintenance and daily operations. Assessments and day-to-day experience since then have revealed issues with most buildings as well as other areas.
“The mayor says it’s a diamond in the rough. They just forgot to shine it,” Commissioner Robert Baca, District 3, said. “It’s run down. It needs a lot of love.”
Baca said the county received funding for the park from the state legislature, but it’s not enough.
The county commissioners had their Oct. 10 meeting at the park so they could look in on progress, size up what needs to be done and prioritize to squeeze as much as possible out of the money, which is about $5.5 million now, with another $4 million request pending.
Some things are already under way, like renovating the kitchen in the main building and installing a new roof there and on other buildings. Soon the dilapidated old Dancers Quarters will be razed. The HVAC in the main building has undergone an assessment and estimates are pending.
Commissioners will each list their top five priorities for the park and funnel them to County Manager Anthony Dimas. The things that make all three lists will go to the top of the priority list.
“We’re looking at all of it as a whole and trying to narrow it down, sort it out,” District 1 Commissioner Danielle Notah, whose top priority is making the park accessible to everyone, said.
Fortunately, some things will make all of their lists. One feature that’s sure to be welcome to visitors is renovated and new restrooms. Two will have to be torn out and replaced, six more will be refitted. The bathrooms, holdovers from the 70s, will get a better gender balance out of the deal.
For example, the west arena men’s room now has seven urinals, four standard stalls and one stall with disabled access; the women’s room has six standard stalls and one accessible stall. After renovations, the men will have 10 urinals, two standard and one accessible stall; the ladies will have 16 standard and two accessible stalls.
The east arena restrooms will go from five urinals, five standard and one accessible stall in the men’s room to four urinals, one standard and one accessible stall; the women’s room will go from three to five standard stalls and from one to two accessible stalls. All will have baby changing tables.
Notah was glad to hear there will be more “family” stalls for disabled users and those who need help because of age or ability.
“Besides accessibility, my other priority is restrooms,” she said. “I wasn’t always a commissioner. I’m also a member of the public. It just goes back to the quality of life. People deserve to go to Red Rock and have a good time.”
District 2 Commissioner Walt Eddy is known for his rodeo trail cred. He’s been glad to see improvements to the holding and competition areas, especially new bucking chutes that were replaced for the Junior Nationals event, but it’s still a long road ahead.
“I was in amazement of what we have and do not have,” he said. “Gallup is the only arena I know that doesn’t have a shaded area. The upper section of the south grandstand was a priority for all of us ... I have been on the bandwagon for quite some time but I think it’s going to happen now.”
On the wish list for the long-range future, commissioners would like to see the park used for non-equine events.
“I’m not a rodeo guy,” Baca said. “I know that’s pretty much what we have had out there. That place has so much potential for other things.”
Notah agreed.
“Red Rock is predominantly used for rodeos. We could expand that for a lot of other things like concerts,” she said. “I’m pretty excited with the direction Red Rock Park is going and think in the future people will really enjoy it. It’s been a long time coming.”
By Holly J. Wagner
Sun Correspondent
