The fight against the city of Boise’s consideration of a land-swap deal in Southwest Boise got a new team member Friday night.
Terrell Owens, the former wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Fame athlete, spoke with the Friends of Murgoitio Park about his opposition to the proposed deal in a video posted to Facebook.
Boise has planned to build a park on a 160-acre parcel south of West Victory Road since 1997, but is now considering swapping the land with a home developer to instead set aside more parkland in the Boise Foothills and build a smaller park on the Southwest site. Originally owned by the Murgoitio family, the land in Southwest Boise was purchased by the airport in the early 1990s, before the city bought it in 1998.
One city plan from 1997 proposed the area being developed as a sports complex.
Some Southwest Boise residents, who don’t live near the Foothills, say they have been expecting a park for years, and that the city may now take that away.
“We’ve been promised a park for 24 years,” David King, a Southwest-area resident and president of the Friends group, which formed to fight the proposed swap, said in the video. “The communities that have grown up around here have been expecting a park that will have football fields, baseball fields, basketball, swimming pools, and now the city of Boise is saying that they’re going to take it away.”
Owens is not from Idaho, but King, who is a lawyer, told the Idaho Statesman by phone that he has done work for Owens in the past and reached out to him about the proposed land swap. In the video, Owens said he agreed with King about the importance of city parks.
“If you’re going to respect the city and the people that (were) promised a park … then you got to live up to your promise,” he said. “I think about the number of kids that will obviously benefit from that park … homes are probably needed, but when you think about the education and growth of kids as a whole, I think if you take that away … it’s a recipe for disaster.”
In the video, Owens talked about the basketball, football and baseball he played in his youth in Alabama. The well-known athlete played 15 seasons in the National Football League for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. He went to six Pro Bowls and played in the Super Bowl in 2005, when the New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Boise, if I had something to say, definitely live up to your promise. Integrity goes a long way,” Owens said. “If they promised it for 24 years … if nothing else give the little kids what they deserve.”
A spokesperson for the city of Boise could not immediately be reached for comment.
The proposed swap will be discussed at the next city council meeting, on July 20.
Statesman reporter Sally Krutzig contributed.