San Luis gives up Friendship Park to feds for port of entry expansion

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — This city will lose Friendship Park over the next several years as the federal government expands the port of entry into Mexico.

The park, next to the international border, is on federal land that the city has been allowed to use over three decades for public recreational purposes. The city council this week voted to approve a resolution returning it to federal control.

But city officials said that in return for taking the land, the federal government may swap out a four-acre site on the north side of San Luis as an alternate location for a park.

In May, San Luis was notified by the U.S. General Services Administration of plans to reclaim the property to allow for an expansion of the port to handle an increase in the number of vehicles and pedestrians traveling between the Arizona border city and Mexico.

In meetings with the city, GSA officials explained that the federal government needs to take back the park site to make room for a new road for Mexico-bound travelers.

Currently, motorists and pedestrians travel on Main Street when going to and from Mexico. Once the port is enlarged, Main Street will serve the city's downtown commercial area, while motorists will enter the Arizona border city from Mexico by way of 1st Street.

San Luis Development Services director Sharon Williams said conceptual work is under way to design a new city park at 10th Avenue and County 22nd Street.

Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla said that although “the federal government is not obligated to give us anything in exchange, it is doing it in good faith, with the possibility of giving us four or more acres.

“By giving up that land, we can't go back in time, we leave behind the memories of Amistad (Friendship), but we need to look out for the benefit and progress of San Luis,” he said, noting the port expansion and rerouted traffic should end congestion downtown.

The park will not be closed immediately, since funds are not currently budgeted for the expansion. GSA said the work could begin in two or three years.

Currently the port serves both commercial and private traffic traveling between the two countries. Commercial traffic is scheduled to be diverted later this year to a newly completed commercial crossing five miles to the east. Once that traffic shifts, the existing port will handle only private vehicles and pedestrians.

The delay in expansion will give the city time to finalize negotiations with the federal government over a new park site and to secure funds to develop it, Escamilla said.

He added that the park expansion is expected to take up three-fourths of Friendship Park, with the remainder proposed to be used as a green area.