new mexico communities get funding for a series of revitalization projects

Nearly a dozen New Mexico communities are receiving a total of $4 million for a variety of street and public space revitalization projects.

The funding is coming jointly from the New Mexico MainStreet program and the New Mexico Economic Development Department as part of an ongoing effort to return the downtown areas of many of the communities to their former glory.

An award of $100,000 is going to Alamogordo for that city’s work, along with the Alamogordo MainStreet program, to revitalize the 800 and 900 blocks of New York Avenue.

That avenue, lined with stately one- and two-story brick buildings mostly built during the first decade of the last century, has long been regarded as Alamogordo’s core business district.

In Albuquerque, an effort to update historic South 4th Street in the neighborhood of Barelas is also receiving $100,000. That project is being done in a partnership between Barelas Main Street and the City of Albuquerque.

A neighborhood of roughly 3,700 people, Barelas’ main thoroughfare has always been 4th Street, populated with any number of small restaurant and retail operations.

The Farmington MainStreet program, working with the City of Farmington, is getting $360,000 for its Downtown Farmington Revitalization Complete Streets Project work; while the largest dollar amount at $800,000 is going to a partnership between the Gallup MainStreet Arts & Cultural District and the City of Gallup for the phase one construction of the Coal Avenue Commons.

MainStreet de Las Vegas and the City of Las Vegas are in line for $400,000 for the phase two revitalization building of Railroad Avenue, with the Lovington Main Street program and the City of Lovington getting $40,000 for phase three of its “Love Lovington: Going Green Wayfinding Project.”

The Lovington “Going Green” project has been designed to upgrade and revitalize outdoor park and plaza spaces. The wayfinding effort includes the construction of downtown gateways, directional signage, and kiosks with common colors and fonts.

In Raton, $100,000 will target a Roswell Market Walk project, a joint effort between the Roswell MainStreet program and the City of Roswell; Silver City, meanwhile, is getting $170,000 for a combined program sponsored by the Silver City MainStreet/Arts and Cultural District and the City of Silver City for the phase three construction of the Main Street Plaza.

Tucumcari MainStreet, working with the City of Tucumcari, is getting $600,000 for the phase one work on its historic Second Street.

In announcing the awards, Daniel Gutierrez, director of the New Mexico MainStreet, said the program is designed to work with “local communities to identify and develop catalytic economic development projects that use a holistic approach and build off of the community’s existing assets.”

By Garry Boulard

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