Summerfest decision did not come easily
Condensed Nob Hill location still the best in light of construction
At the city of Albuquerque, much planning and discussion went into the site design for this year’s Route 66 Summerfest, which will take place on July 22. Planning an event that hosts 30,000-40,000 attendees takes hundreds of hours of coordination and collaboration. Initial planning for the event actually began late last summer when the ART construction schedule was set after a six-month delay caused by a lawsuit. For nearly 11 months, city planners have anticipated that changes would need to be made to the event in Nob Hill.
The ART construction team has done everything possible to finish construction in Nob Hill for the Route 66 Summerfest. Months of expedited activity allowed for reopening Central Avenue from Girard Boulevard to Carlisle Boulevard. However in doing so, active construction is ongoing east of Carlisle. Safety always has to be our No. 1 priority, and there is no way we can safely accommodate pedestrians in an active construction zone.
Multiple contingency plans were developed to anticipate unknown factors and unanticipated changes in the construction schedule. These included the possibility of staging the event at UNM’s Johnson Field, to considering Silver Avenue as an alternative site for most of the festivities, to moving the event out of Nob Hill for 2017.
A final decision was made several months ago to do whatever was necessary to keep the event in as large a portion of Nob Hill as possible, and that’s what we’ve done. For this year’s festival, this includes Route 66 from Girard to Carlisle. Additionally, attendees will see more activities on the connecting streets between Central and Monte Vista, and the main stage — which will feature a free performance by Los Lobos — will face east on Monte Vista Boulevard at Girard. The section from Carlisle to Washington is not available because construction in this area will not be to a point where it can accommodate event attendees safely. Based on discussions with Nob Hill businesses, the primary focus of the schedule was to be out of the area during holiday shopping seasons. This is why construction ceased during the holiday season in 2016 and will be complete before the holiday season in 2017.
It is understandable that some business owners are unhappy about the changed route. The city has made several hundred individual and group contacts with business owners in Nob Hill regarding ART construction and Route 66 Summerfest. Event planners will use existing traffic lanes for three shuttle stops in the east end of Nob Hill — Central and Washington, Morningside and Carlisle — to bring attendees into this area and encourage foot traffic to these businesses.
In 2010, Albuquerque was feeling the effects of the most current recession. As a new mayor, Mayor Richard Berry looked for many ways to help local business owners through this period. One of his approaches was to take the long-standing Summerfest series and move it to different parts of Albuquerque to stimulate economic activity across the city. At the time we called it “Taking Summerfest on Tour.” This is how the Route 66 Summerfest, along with the Northeast Heights and Westside events, were created.
Route 66 Summerfest exceeded all expectations and quickly became one of the largest annual events in New Mexico. It also became one of the busiest, most profitable days of the year for dozens of Nob Hill businesses.
There are changes this year to what has now become expected for the event, but because the ART Construction Team is ahead of schedule, the city of Albuquerque has been able to execute a practical plan. We take pride that by working with many community partners, Route 66 Summerfest will remain in Nob Hill and will be one of the most attended, successful — and free to the public — signature events of the summer.