Cleaning up Crane

When Crane County's Judge John Farmer was elected into office he was on a mission clean up the county.

Coming from a judge, one would think that has something to do with a countywide crime-fighting crusade.

But this wasn't your typical cuff-‘em-boys sort of cleanup project to go toe-to-toe with the community's criminal element.

What he actually had in mind was park beautification - almost half-a-million-bucks worth of it.

You know ... literally clean up the county.

Under the direction of Farmer, the past year has seen the county's parks enter into a sort of golden age.

"Those parks hadn't had anything done to them in 50 years," the judge said. "It's really turned out. Anytime you go by them, there'll be six or seven people at the parks."

Among the county seat's new improvements are a new $100,000 fountain, a $25,000 walking trail and a skate park for those who are more inclined to roll than walk.

An Odessa company, Slaton Waterfalls and Ponds, built the fountain, which is about the size of a small swimming pool - of course, nearby signs remind visitors not to swim in it.

Alicia Slaton, who owns the company with her husband, said fountains offer the "serenity" of cascading water with minimal upkeep, at least when cared for properly.

"Water brings the earth and people together," she said. "They actually get to relax and listen to the water. I don't know why everybody relaxes by the water, but they do. They'll go to the beach or something and relax by the water. Especially these days and times, with the economic crisis upon us, people need that because less people are able to afford to go on vacation."

Farmer said the idea of a waterfall for the city was the result of a much smaller version in his own back yard.

"It's very relaxing to go out there and see it and watch the waterfall and watch the different birds and stuff that come out there," he said.

Skeptical about the skateboard park at first, a probation officer convinced him such a facility would be wise investment. The officer recommended it to help give the children a place to go and stay out of trouble.

"I didn't think it would go over that good, but they all thought it would be a good thing," he laughed. "Every day after school, that thing is plumb full."

But it wasn't just the City of Crane that received park renovations, Farmer said. Several others county parks - including Mountain View Park, Leland L. Martin Park and Dordhea Street Park - benefited from the $450,000 campaign, which was funded by park money that had accumulated from past fiscal budgets but hadn't been spent.

"We were just trying to increase the use of our county parks," he said. "We wanted to get more people to come down here and camp out and, you know, visit."

IF YOU GO

>> Crane County Park, South Katherine Street and West Sixth Street, Crane.

>> Leland L. Martin Park, 100 block of Horsehead Street, Crane.