When something goes wrong or ends differently than expected, we may say, “The best laid plans (of mice and men) often go awry,” without knowledge of Robert Burns and this translation of his 1786 poem apologizing to a mouse whose nest he had inadvertently destroyed with a plow.
Had we been a fly on the wall at one of innumerable meetings to plan and prepare for a new Durango Chamber of Commerce building, we may have heard a board or staff member utter these words as plans for the new $58 million sewer plant, overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2015, came to light.
The plant remodel and disruption to Santa Rita Park that will begin in June, and not conclude until 2019, would have landed the Chamber in the middle of a construction zone for possibly up to three years, making its current location inhospitable for business and an 18-24 month planned remodel.
With last week’s announcement of a deal having been struck with the city of Durango to purchase the Chamber building at Santa Rita park, plans for a different (and former) location for a new, rather than renovated Chamber building adjacent to Brookside park, and the eventual re-use of the existing Chamber building for park purposes, the twists and turns may have all been worth it and resulted in a better outcome for all parties.
The Chamber, having settled on a remodel due to land and construction costs, now gets its new building. The city, needing a staging area for the sewer plant construction, also likely saw the benefit of acquiring the building to fully integrate it into the park re-design.
Our concern rests with the future of the parks. The city and Chamber should do everything possible to preserve Santa Rita and Brookside parks’ footprints during all this construction. The public has been told that in the long run the completed sewer plant will modestly diminish recreational opportunities at Santa Rita park.
We only hope that a new Chamber will enhance, not reduce, available recreational amenities at Brookside Park, and that La Plata Youth Services finds an affordable home from which to continue their critical work serving area youth.
