“The
revised plan was developed from input by [Christian] residents and councillors.”
(After the secretive The Forum blessed it.)
This location is very near the now-sacred spot under a bank where the old St. Genevieve's Church was located, before Bishop Metzgar had it torn down, sold the property to the same bank, and soon after retired to El Paso, Texas. A new church was built at another location and a few years passed. Families increasingly bemoaned their loss. Meanwhile, others have built fortunes on the millions of public money spent on this new project after years of ignoring the dead Downtown and its failed 1970's Urban Renewal. Since then, the resuscitation has taken on a Christian evangelical determination to make the area a bigoted, holy wonderment fed by the ancestral lies of the promoted local Christian history and the illegal misdirection of public funds.
The city council and project supporters ignored the purchase of the available 110-acre golf course property that would have benefited the whole of the community for generations. The zeal of the Downtown Gang to turn the area, Lazarus-like into their holy spot after years-long 'spending' of millions of dollars, has not gone unnoticed by the community. Any legal action, which would be required due to the unabashed bigotry of some in the community, to give the plaza a welcoming and inclusive spirit has been cursed by the lies of a previous sectarian court decision.
From the north-end anchor, next to the City's only public library holding books of enlightenment while branded with the local sign of bigotry, stands the newer "City of Las Cruces City Hall" (carved to represent 'cuidad de las cruces - City of Christian Crosses') flying its proud Christian proselytizing flags, to a Federal courtroom on the east-side where a bible supplants the U. S. Constitution, to the west-side along Water Street, mostly ignored, it being lined with small offices, to the south-end's future anointment, waiting to be a surprise to all since the previous large old Latin trinity crosses planters have been removed, is the Downtown holy site of Las Cruces.
(Photo courtesy of
Las Cruces Bulletin, page 23, April 3, 2015)
“The roof of the performing stage can be seen [dark area at
bottom representing the rocks at Calvary] with the water splash pad [representing
the divine headrest with rays of light] and lawned [sic] areas [pillow-soft grass at the head of the cross] drawing people [faithful Christian pilgrims] to the plaza. In the drawing…. the
elliptical sundial at the center of the plaza [represents the slanted footrest
of the cross of Jesus] with stained cement paving demarking sections. Originally a round sundial was envisioned, an
elliptical sundial is better, because the markings can be adjusted [adjusting "cement paving....sections?"] to tell
correct time.”
The "water splash pad" is reminiscent of Mayor Miyagishima's bigoted religious plaque of divine light, rays, and crosses he awards to citizens he blesses. Those crosses would be obvious, so they make the whole plaza a cross! (Note: The plaque can be seen on a previous post.)
Note: The slanted footrest is depicted in paintings so the raised end on Jesus' right points to the good thief, Dismas, while the lower end points to the bad thief, Gestas.
