The City of Holbrook is in the process of providing a new amenity to residents of the community at very little cost. An area just north of Romero Street and south of the Little Colorado River is being developed as a bicycle and walking path. The walkways are already in place, paths used for years by kids and other residents that criss-cross and wind for about a mile and a half through the area filled with Tamarisks and low-lying brush. But now for little more than the cost of labor, those paths are being widened and bladed for easier use.
For Councilman Bobby Tyler, this project has a special meaning. He spent his childhood running along those paths and using them to make his way to school before the buses came to his neighborhood. The land once held dozens of homes, including one owned by Tyler’s grandmother, that were razed in the 1990s after the owners were relocated further south out of the flood plain.
According to Tyler, the landowners at the time were told that the land would be made into a recreational area for them to enjoy, with cottonwood trees and fields for kids to play sports on and that funds had been set aside by the city for the project. Now, the only evidence that efforts were made toward development are dead cottonwoods planted along an unused irrigation system installed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Wherever that money went, it wasn’t to this,” stated Tyler.
He hopes that visitors to the city will also stop and take the opportunity to utilize the park and add it to the list of reasons to stay another night in Holbrook. Tyler explained that in addition to improving the paths, the city is also clearing out dead brush and adding exercise turnouts and possibly small pocket areas that residents can lease as memorial areas that they will maintain and beautify.
He also thinks that the area can be utilized for the Frisbee golf that has been discussed by the city council. “It’s been talked about having it at the golf course, but I think this area is better suited for the kids,” said Tyler.
He is also going to propose that the area be called Dyer Recreational Area, after a man who meant a great deal to the residents of the neighborhood. W.S. Dyer and his wife owned the White Grocery, a small store that stood at the corner of Romero Street and South Apache Drive until the mid-1970s.
“Mr. Dyer kept a lot of people from going hungry over here. He let people buy on credit when they didn’t have the money to pay and I’m sure a lot of people could never pay that bill,” said Tyler.
He hopes that this endeavor will be one of many that will develop land owned by the city.
“We have a lot of land that isn’t being utilized and that needs to change,” he stated.
The walking paths are already in use by residents of the neighborhood and with more improvements, Tyler is hoping that the developing recreational area will be something that the city will be able to market as one more reason to visit, and live, in Holbrook.
