ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City continues to make major improvements to the Rail Yards in Downtown Albuquerque. It’s been a priority for the city for years – they say sprucing up the Rail Yards will bring new life to the Downtown and Barelas areas. “Before COVID hit, this was one of the most requested venues,” said Mayor Tim Keller.
Last February, KRQE News 13 told you about a deal with a potential developer that had fallen through. That developer had plans to bring shopping, restaurants, an amphitheater, and housing to the historic site. However, when the deal diminished, the City took a different approach. The city dedicated $12 million to clean up the north buildings, with hopes of making it more appealing to developers in the future, while keeping its charm intact.
“We’re trying to preserve what makes it cool,” said Mayor Keller. Since then, the City has restored the roof on a couple of the buildings, and they’ve hooked up utilities. Right now they’re working on removing contaminated creosote logs from the biggest building, the boiler room. Those blocks will be saved and incorporated into the remodel of the building, as a reminder of the rich history. Once the blocks are removed, they will restore that roof too.
KRQE News 13 asked if they plan on fixing all of the broken windows. They say right now, there are no plans to repair those and it’ll depend on the future use of the building.
The City says they expect one of the building to be ready for tenants by the end of the summer and think the boiler room will be finished by the fall. CNM is one of the potential tenants who could be putting a film school on the property.
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