After 42 years with the Parks and Recreation Department Ron Moore still helped mow the hundreds of acres of park land he managed.
Caring for parks never got old for Moore, and even as parks and cemetery manager, he spent time on a lawn mower each week because it is the best way to identify turf problems.
“It wasn’t a job to me. Never once did I not want to come to work. Any time that you want to come to work every day, you know, that’s a good job” he said.
Moore retired June 1, and in recognition of his service the Durango City Council recently named the parks and cemetery maintenance shop after him.
“Now you get to enjoy your parks and just bask in their glow,” Mayor Christina Rinderle said.
If the council approves, the Moore Parks and Cemetery Shop at Greenmount Cemetery will be rebuilt next year, and a permanent plaque in his memory will be installed, said Cathy Metz, parks and rec director.
“He did so much for our community for the last 42 years. I believe he was the leadership the city needed,” she said.
While Metz is a well-known voice for parks and rec, Moore was responsible for the city’s beloved 300 acres of park land, about 3,000 acres of open space and a 42-acre cemetery, she said. He took over in 2004 as parks and cemetery manager from Stan Cundiff, the namesake of Cundiff Park.
Moore’s team included nine year-round employees and about 30 people in the summer.
To manage the property and people, Moore would get up at 5:30 a.m. and visit all his parks every day to prioritize his projects.
“The quality of our parks is directly attributed to his leadership,” Metz said.
A Durango native, Moore started with the parks department after high school in 1974 when there were just a few asphalt trails along the Animas River, and Fanto and Folsom parks were used for softball.
The extensive list of parks he helped build includes Iris, Riverfront, Brookside, Rank, Santa Rita, Jenkins Ranch, Smith Sports Field and the Durango Whitewater Park.
“The fathers of the city always had the foresight that it was very valuable to have greenways along the river, trails along the river and to try to get opportunities for parks in neighborhoods when developments came – that’s why some of them are pretty small,” he said.
Advocacy for parks has escalated in Moore’s time with the department, and he fielded lots of calls about how the city was able to establish so many parks.
“Many people don’t have that capability of having so many parks,” he said.
Advocacy from some residents also led to an organic management program for some parks in 2012.
It was a tough shift for the whole department, Metz said.
It proved controversial among the public as well, and in late 2014 Brookside Park and Riverview Sports Complex were removed from the program. At Riverview, the grass had become a safety hazard for players. Nine parks remain in the program.
“To me, I had to lower my standards,” Moore said. But not everyone defines weeds the same way, he acknowledged.
In June, responsibility for parks and cemetery management passed to Scott McClain, who has been the city’s landscape architect for 10 years.
“He brings skills and talents that I feel the park’s staff will embrace,” Metz said.
He has a tremendous attention to detail, and he is prepared to handle the department’s construction projects, she said.
As for Moore, he has spent almost every day since his retirement in the mountains – and still mows a lawn, his own, almost every other day when it’s growing fast.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
