Courtesy Matt Brown
As the City of Santa Fe prepares for the Santa Fe University of Art and Design to vacate the campus on St. Michael's Drive, officials are plotting the next steps for the public property. More than 2,220 people completed a online survey last month, and now Matt Brown, economic development director, is heading up the effort to next meet with design teams about their ideas that incorporate suggested uses from the survey.
What have you heard so far?
There are four big ideas. One is expanding the film and emerging media industry and business; and wrapped around that is also entrepreneurship and innovation. Two is higher education: Let's do a great education component there building off the history of that property, especially four-year and vocational education. And by vocational, people mean everything from traditional blue collar—automotive repair, electrician—to new collar—CNC machines, 3-D printers and fixing those. Also, making Fogelson Library a 21st-century resource for the community. Three is arts and creativity: Expand the Greer Garson Studios and make sure The Screen stays alive; use the amphitheater. The fourth big bucket is workforce housing, but specifically housing that supports the other uses.
What's next?
The five design teams will share their strategic visions for the property with the public at three events and online. April 12 and 15 are pre-registration events with 100 spots each. … They're planned at the Santa Fe Art Institute and the Southside Library, where there will be a representative from each of the five design teams who will facilitate. Those are deeper events. It takes more time, about three and a half hours in the afternoon, but it's deeper. The event at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center (3-7 pm Friday April 13. Free. 3221 Rodeo Road, 955-4000) is open to as many people as we can handle. … It would be great if a couple hundred people showed up.
How do I get involved?
Go to the city's website for the Midtown Campus Project (santafenm.gov/midtown_campus_project) or call Liz Camacho at 955-6042. We want to have as close to a representation of our community as we can possibly get, including ethnicity, gender, age and what part of town they live in. For the April 12 and 15 discussions, we really want people who live in those communities. Our online feedback option, which starts on April 13 and ends April 18, will take about half an hour.
