City to consider panel's recommendation for Blackdom site MIKE BUSH RECORD EDITOR The Roswell City Council will consider a proposal to set up a memorial to Blackdom south of the Wool Bowl at Its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. If the council approves the recommendatio n from the Building and Lands Committee, Blackdom Memoria l Garden will be established on 2.26 acres north of College Boulevard between Grand Avenue and the railroad tracks, The project will be built with $225,000 In capita l outla y funds received from the stale Legislature over several years, according to the Rev. Landjur Abukusumo, chairman of the Blackdom Heritage Cultura l Committee, which Is sponsorIng the project, which he described as a statuary garden. Blackdom was a community established 18 miles south of Roswell in 1920 by black families from throughout the South. It flourished until drought and a drop In Ihc walcr table In the late 1920s forced its residents to move elsewhere. The committee selected the area from three sites recommended by the city Parks and Statuary garden near Wool Bowl would honor 1920s black settlement near Roswell Recreation Department out of 11 potentia l locations, Abukusumo said. The proposal has gone through the Planning and Zoning, Parks and Recreation, and Building and Lands committees, he added. "We arc very hopeful and anticipat e tha t tha t will go through (the City Council) and then we can begin to pursue the design of the actual location." The committe e Is working with Smith Engineering on the design of the garden, Abukusumo said. "We're looking at between one and three statues In a setting where we can have plaques ... Indicating who these pioneers were, what products were produced and those kinds of things with regard to the actual history of the site." The committee Is considering several artists to creat e the statues and may choose one or more, Abukusumo Indicated. "We're looking for indigenous artists, artists In New Mexico, from New Mexico, who understand the history, the culture of New Mexico, " he added. The committee's vision Includes seating where people could relax perhaps have lunch in the area, "and just to look at the grounds and see the plaques that we'll have affixed showing what the history is and showIng the individuals who were Involved , what they were doing." Statues may be of one or more of the Blackdom pioneer leaders, he said, but a statue "won't be erected with regard to one Individual; It will be erected with regard to the commitment that these pioneers made to the site, to building the site and taking advantage of the Homestead Act." The Homestead Act of 1863 made 11 possible for the head of a household to obtain 160 acres of government land for a nominal filing fee as long as the person lived on the land, built a house and made certain Improvements. Abukusumo said the committee would like to see partnerships with school districts and churches to set up trips Into the area. "We could use it as an educational process both culturally Flyover Continued from Page A1 one claiming to represent Foley told the pilot the day before the flight to look for a large, inflatable alien at the entrance to a car dealership when flying over. "But that's the first time that any of (the pilots) say the term 'car dealership' ever came out," Montoya said. He said the request from Foley he had approved had been "legitimate" and for a Veterans Day and Marine Corps birthday celebration and had not mentioned the grand openIng of a car dealership. "I'm hearing It wasn't a Veterans Day celebration," he said. MEETINGS THIS WEEK The following meetings are scheduled for this week In Roswell: Thursday, Feb. 9 9 a.m. - Communit y Improvement Commission meeting. At the Parks and Recreation office conference room, 1101 W. Fourth St. 7 p.m. - Roswell City Council meeting. At the City Hall council chambers, 425 N. Richardson Ave. Montoya said a special form should have been filled out to request the flyover, although, he added, he had not been aware in Novembe r tha t the form had been required since 2003. "I didn't know ther e was a change In 2003," he said. He also said no forms had been filled out for any of the 14 flyovers he approved the weekend starling Nov. 11. "So we're going to make sure we initiat e tha t and do that," Montoya said, referring to the use of the forms. Montoya said Barker also stated falsely that Montoya had Initiate d an investigation because of Barker's report on the Roswell flyover, Montoya said he had ordered an audit of the entir e flyover program months ago and that the Roswell flyover had been included in that. He also said that the flyover was part of a previously scheduled cross country navigation mission. "So in that, It doesn't really matter where they're flying, It just matters tha t they go through different terrain and cross over Into different states. So they just worked (th e Roswell flyover) Into the flight plan," Montoya said. Roswell Mayor Pro Tern and City Councilor Jeanlc Whltwam attende d the grand opening and read a mayoral proclamation on behalf of Mayor Bill Owen, which marked Nov. 10 as "Toyota Scion Grand Opening Day" and thanked Krumland and his wife, Linda, "for Investing In southeastern New Mexico and making Roswell their home!" Whltwam said Tuesday that the opening "was just a very patriotic event." "All I remember is being so proud to be an American," she said. "I was so comforted at the display of military might." She added that she had "no idea" how the planning of the event came about. "I wasn't part of that at all," she said. and with regard to what has happened In the past all the way up to what Is now taking place in the present," he said. "Our vision Is to bring to fruition an opportunity for African Americans to see their culture, heritage, legacies that have been left by these pioneers, to understand how difficult this was, to understand that they came from all over the southern states in the postCivil War era and were looking for self-determination and were looking for protection In numbers," Abukusumo said. If the City Council approves the project, the committee will immediately begin working with Smith on a master plan and a feasibility study. The committee will then decide on an artist or artist for the statues. Abukusumo said the relationship between the city and the Black Heritage Cultural Committee has been "exemplary" despite complaints from some Individuals that the city was dragging its feet on the project. Some confusion may have arisen because the committee has been pursuing different STATE BRIEFS phases of the overall Blackdom project, including possible future expansion, he added. The committee is interested in the 27 acres Immediately north of the proposed site, north to the Wool Bowl, for expansion, but that parcel Is now under lease to the Roswell Independent School District and won't become available unless the district agrees to terminate its lease. The committee also wants to set up a Web site that could be linked to those of other African American historical sites so people would be motivated to come to the Southwest to visit the Blackdom site, Abukusumo said. He said the committee also plans to use the Web site to sell replicas of the statue or statues that go up in Blackdom Memorial Garden to raise money for subsequent phases of the memorial. The committee also wants to attach the memorial garden to the New Mexico History Museum being built In Santa Fe so the new museum can have an area devoted to Blackdom, Abukusumo said.