By SANDY CHARLES Los Alamos

To the Los Alamos County Tourism Task Force:

My name is Sandy Charles. I will be conducting a Los Alamos History Museum docent-guided walking tour of our historic district at noon, Wednesday Aug. 10.

During the last 8 or 9 years of doing these tours, plus 5 additional years docenting at the museum, I have compiled some suggestions:

The only reason tourists drive out of their way to this isolated mesa top is to learn more about the Manhattan Project. (Bandelier and the Valles Caldera are separate entities that have their own draw. I am speaking of our town, itself.) The historic district of the Project mainly comprises Ashley Pond and the Bathtub Row buildings from Fuller Lodge down to the Oppenheimer house on Peach St. The condition and maintenance of this area is a perennial problem. Los Alamos’ prime asset is being neglected while the county mulls using more of our precious open space for bike trails and an expanded golf course—two small, esoteric interests of a few people.

First of all, Ashley Pond has turned into a murky, algae-ridden swamp. I will always remember the last time it was drained for cleaning and redesigning (approx.15 yrs. ago?) We were so thankful that it was finally being done. One day I drove past the work area and saw the muck being removed by bulldozers from the drained pond. A few days later I saw the rubber pad laid on the bottom of the drained pond. I rejoiced because it looked like the county was going to put down a clean, light-colored material such as crushed, white quartz rock, so the water would remain clear and reflective, enabling the colorful koi fish, turtles and ducks to be viewed by all. A few days after that, I drove by and they were dumping dirt onto the rubber pad! (I was shocked enough to nearly hit a parked car on Central Ave.)

The edges of the pond with reeds, cattails and bridges was an attractive addition, but could not this have been achieved by adding dirt to only those areas, surrounded by an appropriate barrier from the rest of the pond? The cattails are now growing out into the interior of the pond. Consider the increased mosquito problem downtown this summer when our only apparent stagnant water for breeding them is Ashley Pond. Fast-forward to today, and we have the Ashley algae-swamp.

Secondly, the History Museum campus and parking lot go ungroomed every spring. Our many visitors walk along, past pine needle-clogged gutters in the parking lot, hopping over branches, shuffling through leaves and dodging low-hanging tree branches while maneuvering through the green-area museum campus. For most of the summer we must squash apricots under our shoes as we walk because there are so many of them throughout the campus. One spring, because I complained, the campus was cleaned up by April for our Spring Break opening of the tourist season, but the next year and since then, not until much later, if at all. 

Thirdly, visitors ask why the Fuller Lodge logs appear dry and rotting. This building is designated a National and World Heritage! This summer, there was a crew doing something to the front logs of Fuller Lodge, which is great, but take a look at the back logs facing the parking lot and History Museum. They look…what can I say…embarrassing. Cannot all of these logs, front, back and sides, be stained and sealed so they are a uniform color and are protected from the weather? I’m not one of those cranky old ladies, really, I’m not, but these are the things tourists come to see in Los Alamos on their quest for knowledge of the Manhattan Project.

Starting next summer, after the big movie release, we expect a lot more tourists. (Let’s be sure Los Alamos actually has a theater to show the movie!) The Historical Society Executive Director, Todd Nichols, is recruiting and training more docents, and he endeavors to get the Oppenheimer House open by then, (much money and many repairs needed) which will be a huge draw for tourists who’ve seen the movie, as well. 

Can your task force help facilitate these changes? We could before, and can now, showcase our historic district here in Los Alamos so it adequately represents the paramount, world-changing events that occurred here. This is why they come. 

Thank you for hearing me,

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