The Development of Halagueño Arts Park Continues

By Misty Cryer

The Halagueño Arts Park, which surrounds the Carlsbad Library and Carlsbad Museum, has been in development for close to a quarter of a century. The completion of the four building phases was recently celebrated. The early history of the site was featured in a previous edition of Carlsbad Local, with ongoing plans revealed.

Julia Heaton championed the idea of developing an Arts Park on the grounds. She said she became interested in creating an Arts Park in 2004-05 when she was a member of the Library Board. After consulting with the Library Board, she said, a subcommittee of the library was formed under her chairmanship to initiate discussions on how to begin a project of this magnitude.

The subcommittee, later known as the Halagueño Arts Park (HAP) Committee, Heaton said, consisted of Library Board members, including herself, Carla Dungan, Wren Stroud, and Gloria Wilson; Museum Board member Gerri Mattson; and the then MainStreet Director, Melissa Suggs.

Throughout the project, Heaton said, members of the ad hoc committee were lost and added, with adjunct members including representatives from Beautification, MainStreet, City Projects, and Creative Carlsbad. They took on the role of serving as Mayor Dale Janway’s Fine Arts Acquisition and Vetting Committee (FAAV) while continuing the development of the park.

It is interesting to note that three original members, Heaton, Dungan, and Stroud, still serve as committee members and chair the HAP, joined by Judy Murray, Linda Pruit, Cindy Elkins, and Therese Rodriguez.

Over 24 years, Heaton said, “The development of the park and the acquisition of the art was funded through Capital Outlay funds given by our community legislators, the City of Carlsbad—including the Lodger’s Tax Board—grants, and private donors.” She also mentioned several pieces of art were donated by the New Mexico Arts Board.

Early in the committee’s work, Heaton said, it became apparent that a landscape/architectural firm was needed. The firm of Morrow, Reardon, Wilkerson, and Miller was hired to design an outdoor arts park to be completed in four phases, including infrastructure, irrigation, electricity, hard- and soft-landscaped areas, fountains, park furniture, stages, and Upper Chihuahuan Desert plants and trees.

In addition to fine arts, Heaton said the committee wanted the park to support the

performing arts. Throughout the four building phases of the project, spearheaded by the

HAP Committee, she said, the park was developed with those elements while the committee searched for and purchased sculpture for the park and began providing free performances, including a classical guitarist, Chautauqua performances, and Movies in the Park.

Prior to the start of the park’s four phases of development, Heaton said, a beautiful sculpture called “The Reader” by Wren Prather-Stroud was placed at the library entrance to commemorate the library’s centennial celebration. Francis Feezer, chairman of the Museum’s Art Acquisition committee and dedicated art patron, personally gifted the three Glenna Goodacre sculptures placed in front of the museum to the people of Carlsbad, and the mural by Noel Marquez was commissioned. Trees were also planted around the perimeter of the park.

In the 1930s, based on research Heaton gathered and shared, a two-story pueblo-style building stood on the site, with a library on the first floor and a museum on the second. In those times, Heaton said, the park’s grounds were nicely done.

“In the center of the entry was a fishpond that Oliver Quin gave in memory of his wife. It had a boy holding a fish, and the water was coming out of the fish’s mouth into the pool, and there were carp in the pool,” said Heaton, adding that people loved that fountain, which was eventually removed.

Over time, Heaton said, attempts were made to improve Halagueño Park, but the grounds fell into disrepair. The library was remodeled and rebuilt with Art Gorrell as architect, said Heaton, and the Library-Museum complex is much as it was then with additions and improvements. The grounds remained poorly landscaped and neglected with diseased cottonwood trees surrounding the perimeter, she said. The dedication of the HAP Committee in seeing the project through to completion of four defined phases resulted in the development of Halagueño Arts Park as it is today.

“It’s not only a beautiful cultural area for our citizens and visitors, but it is also an economic boon to our city,” Heaton said. “The arts and culture of the community are as important as all the other aspects of your community. It’s your history. It’s your future. It’s your dream machine, really,” she said.

To read the early history of Halagueño Park, visit: https://www.carlsbadlocalnews.com/post/carlsbad-celebrates-history-while-creating-it