City’s Poole, hospital purchases can have long-term benefits

While all eyes lately have been on COVID-19 vaccinations, school reopenings and initiatives wending through the Legislature, the city of Albuquerque has quietly been making progress on two major land acquisitions that could shape the city’s landscape and its heart for decades to come.

Last week, we learned the city has struck a $6.7 million deal to buy the Poole property on Albuquerque’s West Side. That’s big news. For years, neighbors and conservationists have hoped to preserve the 23-acre plot bordering the Bosque and overlooking the Rio Grande wetlands.

Gamma Development obtained site plan approval for a 69-home development on the bluff, but city officials were steadfast the city would like to buy the land.

Albuquerque Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Rael says Gamma Development has agreed to sell for $6.7 million, and the parties are scheduled to close the deal March 19. While it’s not clear where the money will come from, we’re confident the city can find the $2.2 million needed to buy the property on top of a $4.6 million state appropriation spearheaded last year by state Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque.

Candelaria and Mayor Tim Keller deserve credit for staying on top of the issue throughout the pandemic. During a press conference in May about the city’s coronavirus response, Keller made a public plea to Gamma Development to sell the city the Poole property.

Thanks to the mayor’s persistence, the land between the Rio Grande and the San Antonio Oxbow is but a signature or two away from becoming permanently undeveloped land. While more housing is greatly needed in the city, the bluff overlooking our state’s signature river isn’t the best place for a large residential development. Preserving the Poole property is good stewardship and will make its wetlands open to the public in perpetuity.

In another real estate development last week, the city agreed to pay another $2 million to buy the former Lovelace hospital on Gibson Boulevard for its much-anticipated Gateway Center. The extra $2 million raises the total price to $15 million and resolves a legal battle over the property’s ownership.

City officials say the location of the 570,000-square-foot facility and its design make it well-suited for an integrated behavioral health and homelessness system. The building has existing commercial tenants, including Sandia National Laboratories, which can keep it vibrant.

The purchase of what is now known as the Gibson Medical Center enables the city to move forward with a centralized, 24/7 facility that provides emergency shelter beds and connects people to services.

City voters approved $14 million for the project through a 2019 bond question, but progress became painstakingly slow after the pandemic hit. People can debate all day long the causes behind homelessness, but with an estimated 1,500 people sleeping on city streets, there should be no debate over whether every human being deserves a warm, safe place to sleep every night. Converting the old Lovelace hospital is a step toward delivering on that.

The pending purchase of the Poole property and purchase of the former hospital are smart investments that will benefit Albuquerque for decades to come. While dealing with the pandemic has been job No. 1, these decisions will help sustain people’s bodies and souls. Kudos to the city for understanding that and making it happen.

... THERE IS an old saying, “If you want to do something badly enough, you’ll find a way; if not, you’ll find an excuse.” It seems excuses ... are the only thing the APS Board of Education is good at.

It has ignored the wishes of the large segment of the community who want an immediate return to in-person learning and ignored the science. The CDC and most of the experts in the field say, unequivocally, COVID dangers in schools are negligible, and the safest places for our children are schools. School is the only place where some children feel safe, get their only good meal of the day, learn the difference between good and bad behavior, where good teachers can influence a child’s future for the better, and where child abuse can be identified and reported . ...

The first duty of a school board member, as listed on the APS website, is, “Make the education and wellbeing of students the top priority of all decision making.” ... This board must open our schools now. If (members) are unwilling or unable to do so, they should resign and allow folks with more intestinal fortitude to get the job done.

DAVID R. ANSELL Major, U.S. Army (Ret.), retired teacher, Albuquerque