The Scenic Park

Netherwood Park is a 5.3-acre park that has been owned and managed by the City of Albuquerque for nearly 75 years.  It was dedicated to the City by Netherwood Corporation, the developer of Netherwood Park, through its President, Edward R. Schell, and his wife Edna N. Schell by way of the Replat of the Netherwood Park First Filing on October 22, 1951.

Starting in the mid-1950s, homebuilding began in the subdivision near the University of New Mexico as people were moving into the area near and around the Park.  In the early 1960s, ten years after the Park dedication, residents complained to the City about the neglected state of the Park, which had remained undeveloped since 1951.  Neighbors complained that “It was just a large pile of dirt, overgrown with weeds.”

In late August of 1962, Mr. Peter Gallagher, a local attorney, and resident at the corner of Schell Court and Morrow Rd., across from the Park, organized the neighbors and petitioned the City to take action to improve the Park.  A group of neighbors pledged $25 per family, up to a total of $2,000 to “make refinements” to a City-led plan of development for the Park.  The City’s Parks and Recreation Board meeting minutes of October 15, 1962, mention that the “neighborhood did not ask for play facilities but thought a scenic park” was preferred.  The Director of Parks and Recreation stated that a “modified plan for the park without certain recreation facilities earlier proposed would require $20,000 to $25,000 to develop”.  Communications between the City and the Park neighbors at the time state that the City would install the Park irrigation system and a concrete sidewalk on the south side of the Park along Morrow Rd. from Schell Court to Princeton Dr., and  that neighborhood funds and donated labor would be used for trees and other plant material.  The City Commission approved $20,000 of funding toward improvement of the Park on October 23, 1962.

Over the intervening 60 years, the character of the Park has remained as originally conceived… an open, scenic park.  This unique design provides an unobstructed view of the Sandia Mountains from the highest point in the southwest corner of the Park overlooking a “middle ridge” which is about 30 feet higher than the large bowl area below.  There is a grove of trees on the north side of the bowl area and another grove of trees on the east side of the Park along Princeton.  This large grassed and landscaped Park is a sanctuary within a busy urban corridor of the City adjacent to The University of New Mexico campus and UNM Hospital which are within easy walking distance as is the Tennis Club of Albuquerque and several restaurants.