SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Residents near a park in Santa Fe are mourning the loss of a dozen trees that organizers said had to go before this year’s burning of Zozobra. Some neighbors said they’re outraged, while Zozobra organizers said it lays the groundwork for something better.
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Nearby residents near Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe said they visit the park almost every day. And for decades, they say a dozen trees stood tall. But on Tuesday, those trees came down. “It makes me really sad, it’s old-growth trees, they won’t be back in our lifetime,” said Shelley Bachicha as she watched the trees being cut down.
Throughout the afternoon, people walked up to a fence to watch the work being done. One resident even pointed out a few of the dirt patches at the edge of the grass area, saying that’s where trees used to stand.
This comes nearly a week after the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe said the trees had to go, for Old Man Gloom to go up in flames for the 101st burning in just under a month. Event organizer Raymond Sandoval said the state legislature granted the city of Santa Fe $200,000 for the project, which includes replanting the trees. “We believe this is a good compromise for the safety of the event, but it also allows us to now go back and provide shade in parts of the park,” said Sandoval.
Sandoval said the community will get to help make the next decisions when it comes to replanting or additional shade structures.
Without the change, Sandoval said, Zozobra’s insurance was in jeopardy, since the poor sightlines were pushing visitors to crowd a nearby bridge, which was also an evacuation route. “We have to do what we can to make Fort Marcy the safest that we possibly can,” said Sandoval.
He also cited a study showing other Santa Fe venues would not be able to accommodate the event.
Some community members said they weren’t notified about the problem or asked for input. “No one’s against Zozobra, but the way this was conducted was really, really unfair to this community,” said David Cortez.
But Sandoval said they sent out postcards to every mailbox in the area a month before they announced the proposal at a neighborhood meeting, saying, “We were transparent about exactly what we were doing.”
There will be a meeting on August 21 at the Fort Marcy Gazebo at 5:30 p.m. for the community to discuss what the money will be used for, and how it may include new trees and shade structures.
