(1) At the Sept. 4 Town Hall meeting, one of the… – Rio Grande Bosque by Jasper (Joe) Hardesty

While progressive and caring, the design firm and others employed by the City (tax dollars spent) do not include ecological or restoration expertise (until just recently retained, but only late in the process, with minimal design or project scope input). The recent hiring of an environmental firm is unfortunately a whitewash to give credibility to a plan that has no legitimate restoration element. Given this, starting over makes a lot of sense. If the City is not willing to start over because it would cost too much, then we can’t afford the project after all. If the City is willing to do it right, this is good news for the designers, as it means more work. They can thank me later.

From the perspective of the architect, this is an amazing opportunity to demonstrate how design and nature can be integrated to create beautiful elements that people will enjoy. No doubt, I would LOVE this type of a project and that opportunity! However, great design at the expense of environmental damage is not actually great design, and definitely not a community benefit. Integrating nature and design will have other, more appropriate opportunities. The Bosque Plan should be about what is best for the long term health and vitality of our community.

(1) At the Sept. 4 Town Hall meeting, one of the… – Rio Grande Bosque