INTO THE VOID
Future of soon-to-be vacant SFUAD hinges on City Council decisions; temporary uses planned as community helps develop longterm projects
For almost 70 years, a four-year university has been nestled in the center of Santa Fe. After next week, that chapter will close. Shed a tear for the end of an era. Then regain a sense of urgency. What’s next for the 64-acre public campus off St. Michael’s Drive is of front-burner concern for both City Hall and the community at large.
City officials this year launched a lengthy research project seeking to gauge community interest in various possible futures for the cityowned property and determine what residents want there — and, perhaps as important, what they don’t.
But as a final class graduates from the arts school this month, and the school’s lease is set to terminate June 30, the wish-list phase must soon give way to brass tacks.
From the College of Santa Fe to the Santa Fe University of Art and Design to …
The future of the campus exists for now in the ellipsis. Uncertain, though not for a lack of activity.
Different entities have expressed interest in using parts of the campus, and city officials continue talks with educational institutions, as some form of schooling remains at the crux of whatever it is the city hopes to develop there.
Still, those possible mid- and long-term uses remain in the
abstract. City leaders involved in the public input project and the campus changeover describe a deliberative, long-view approach.
“The property is not going to be, you know, break ground and have it all done in a year,” said Matt Brown, the city’s director of economic development. “It’s going to take a while. Because of the scale of the campus, but also because we’re being prudent.”
First, the three-month research exercise to determine the community priorities for the campus must be completed. After those preferences are approved by the City Council, likely this summer, they will become guidelines for the planning and development of the property.
Those phases also will take time, and the public will be incorporated at each stage, Brown said.
“There’s a deep, deep sense of urgency,” he said. “But there is a balance with being disciplined and thoughtful and taking the time to do this right.”
In the meantime, the city wants to keep its campus “animated” over the summer.
“None of us want to see the campus suddenly be completely mothballed and turn into a kind of dark space in the middle of Santa Fe,” Mayor Alan Webber said. “We’ll keep it present and populated, and we’ll get some revenue.”
Arrangements have been made for youth athletic teams to use the Driscoll Fitness Center; a film production will shoot at the Garson Studios complex over the summer; a film nonprofit plans to use campus space for set storage; and the Santa Fe Recovery Center will set up in one of the vacant dormitories, to name a few.
Other temporary possibilities that have been broached include a latesummer flea market, concerts and a yoga studio.
Short-term leases, in other words, are the name of the game now — “weeks or months, not years,” said Matt O’Reilly, the city’s asset development director.
“We’re not doing anything that’s locking up the campus for any significant period of time,” O’Reilly said.
The city has fielded letters of interest from different entities that include a health care provider, a Los Angeles entertainment-focused college and a nearby shopping center owner who wants to redevelop and incorporate parts of the campus, which is exactly the sort of area-revitalization proposal envisioned when the city established the Midtown Local Innovation Corridor overlay district in 2016.
But, O’Reilly said, “These are requests for a long period of time. We’re not there yet. We’re figuring out what the public’s preferred uses are, what the ranges of those things are.”
If some sort of enterprise reaches out to express interest in a lease, O’Reilly said, “That’s wonderful, and ultimately maybe that’s useful. But there’s nothing we can guarantee to anyone right now.”
Conversations with The University of New Mexico about some sort of “teaching site,” not a separate campus, continue.
The city has corresponded with several dozen colleges and universities with varying degrees of interest.
While the original idea of another full-on campus takeover by a school has given way to a broader mixed-use vision, the prospect of an educational tenant with a large footprint on the campus can’t be entirely discounted, Brown said.
“I don’t think we could say no to that or yes to that,” he said. “It’s being responsive to opportunities. Do they fit and comport with our guidelines?”
The city owes some $2.2 million in annual debt service payments on the property. The sum is budgeted for the next fiscal year.
So while the campus is in limbo, the burners are warm. The public-input process has produced some clear priorities: some form of education, high-density housing for middle-income families, the continued presence of the film and media industries, and performing arts spaces.
“Now we’re actually ready to take the next cut, which is to get more specific about scale, size, more specific uses, how much of the site would be devoted to which kinds of uses, and also what the economics are,” Webber said.
The results of the city surveys — a suite of “visions” that were compiled by architecture and design firms into proposed schematics — collectively sketched a grand image of a dramatically remade campus in the distant future: Lengthy green parkways where now there are strip malls; new access points to open up what has been a secluded parcel; lively, pedestrianfriendly neighborhoods. A place to live and congregate. Someday, maybe. At present, there is a vacuum where for the better part of a century there was a college.
“That, I think, is a loss,” said Mark Roosevelt, president of the St. John’s College campus in Santa Fe. “A vibrant community should have opportunities for people at all ages and stages of life. So it’s nice to have colleges. They are enriching in both direct and indirect ways.”
The Santa Fe Community College and Higher Education Center stand at the ready to accommodate and work hand in hand with whatever form of educational institution might take root, college officials said.
“This gives us a new opportunity to reconnect with the city and be at the table for the concept of what’s going to be there,” said Rebecca Estrada, the Higher Education Center’s executive director.
“One of the conversations that was had, particularly when the [University of Art and Design] was struggling, was how connected to the community were they? They were very insular in some ways. So how can we make sure that area isn’t closed off ?” she said.
“That connection to the community is, I think, where we are strong and where I think we can help whatever ends up happening at that midtown campus,” Estrada added.
Whenever the future begins to materialize, whatever that future looks like, the stakes are high, Webber said, to successfully navigate and deliver a “catalytic project” in the heart of Santa Fe.
“We have to make it work for the whole city,” he said. “In the future, people can look at it and say, ‘They really nailed it. They really got it right.’ ”
Contact Tripp Stelnicki at 505-428-7626 or tstelnicki@sfnewmexican.com.