A fire Saturday night all but destroyed the historic main building at Tucumcari Metropolitan Park, aka 5 Mile Park, along old Route 66 west of Tucumcari, N.M.
Richard Talley at the Motel Safari reported in an e-mail:
The walls seem to still be standing, but with no roof now, after a few rains, everything left will begin to rot and wither away. […]
At one time Tucumcari Metropolitan Park had the largest outdoor pool in the entire state of New Mexico, a playground with lots of equipment, a fully landscaped drive through park with bridges, creeks, a pistol and rifle range, a skeet and trap shooting range, and off-road course, horseback riding and was home to the then annual Founder’s Day Picnics.
The buildings and equipment at 5 Mile Park had fallen into disrepair and neglect over many years, to the point where it was named one of the most endangered places in New Mexico in 2003.
The park also suffered from being miles away from Tucumcari’s city center, plus being on an isolated, dead-end road that was cut off by Interstate 40.
does anyone have pictures of this pool when in it’s day? visited the site this summer on our drive across the states and would like to see what it looked like in it’s prime!
Volunteers for the Tucumcari Historical Museum rescued some of the playground equipment after the recent fires. It is now installed on the grounds in front of a large mural painted by Doug Quarles. The mural depicts the pool in all its glory filled with joyful families. There are other displays showing the pool and how important it was to the community.