City park offers new feature: flood control

IN THE BARELAS NEIGHBORHOOD WILL BE READY JUST IN TIME FOR SUMMER... AND THE MONSOON. THE PARK I...  More »

IN THE BARELAS NEIGHBORHOOD WILL BE READY JUST IN TIME FOR SUMMER... AND THE MONSOON. THE PARK IS DESIGNED WITH FLOOD CONTROL IN MIND. AND AS ANTOINETTE ANTONIO EXPLAINS THE PARKS OPENING SHOULD PUT NEIGHBORS''FLOOD FEARS' AT EASE. IT MAY LOOK MORE LIKE A CONSTRUCTION ZONE RIGHT NOW... BUT IN THE NEXT MONTH AND A HALF, TINGLEY PARK WILL BE HOME TO BASEBALL FIELDS.. PLAYGROUNDS.. AND SO MUCH MORE. THE MAKEOVER IS A RESULT OF THE DEVASTATING SUMMER STORMS OF 2006. HOMES IN BOTH BARELAS AND MARTINEZTOWN FLOODED OVER AND OVER AGAIN. 'it was awful, it was very scary. there was water everywhere.'ROBERT VIGIL, THE PRESIDENT OF THE BARELAS NEIGBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, SAYS THE PARK'S FACELIFT IS A RELIEF FOR RESIDENTS. THAT'S BECAUSE MOST OF THE PARK SITS FOUR FEET BELOW STREET LEVEL.... ALLOWING IT TO COLLECT RAINWATER DURING A STORM... MORE THAN 8 MILLION GALLONS. 'i hope that everything will work out and we don't experience what we did a couple of years ago.' AND EVEN THOUGH THE PARK ITSELF ISN'T DONE YET... THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM IS ALREADY IN PLACE.. SOMETHING RESIDENTS HAVE YET TO EXPERIENCE SINCE WE HAVEN'T HAD MUCH RAIN. KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SAY THEY CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO BE FINISHED... AND IT'S NOT JUST SO THEY HAVE SOMEWHERE TO PLAY. 'so it could be more bigger and the water, when it floods, the water could go down into the park AND NOT INTO YOUR HOUSE? yeah.'NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL GARY KING IS  « Less