plans for new santa fe teen center move forward

Exactly $1 million is being put aside in a reserve fund for the construction of a new teen center on the south side of Santa Fe.

That money is specifically itemized in the city’s new fiscal year 2020 budget under the heading “Investing in Our Neighborhoods.”

The project has long been talked about for a part of Santa Fe with a population of around 4,000 people, at least a third of which, according to Census Bureau figures, live below the poverty level.

In an interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican, Mayor Alan Webber said the reason for building the new center on the south side is simple: “That’s where our population is growing.”

The $1 million in city funds will be added to the $1.1 million in capital outlay funding passed during the 2019 session of the New Mexico State Legislature and subsequently approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

As planned, what is being called the Southside Teen Center will be built on some 5.4 acres of land across the street from the Southside Branch Library, near the intersection of Jaguar Drive and Country Club Road.

The Mayor’s overall $102 million budget, along with the funding to build the teen center, has now been approved by the city’s Finance Committee, a body made up of the five members of the Santa Fe City Council.

By Garry Boulard