It’s been six months since the city’s Arts & Culture Department absorbed the $14 million West Central Route 66 Visitor Center into its considerable portfolio of cultural amenities. Bernalillo County transferred ownership earlier this year, after initial funding came from the state, county and city.
The center now joins popular and favored institutions like the ABQ BioPark, Explora, the KiMo Theatre, Albuquerque Museum and more, but with one important caveat — it’s still not open and is located about eight miles from the city center near Nine Mile Hill.
At a news conference Thursday, Arts & Culture Director Shelle Sanchez gave an update on when the center might open and how her staff intends to make the center appealing to both tourists and residents.
“We’ve talked about that a lot. I think it’s not really that kind of traditional visitor center,” Sanchez said. “It’s more about creating a place where visitors and community alike can come, with Route 66 as the draw and the theme.”
Sanchez and her staff have moved quickly. Since April, about $400,000 in safety upgrades have been completed, including the installation of a security system, elevator repairs, water leak remediation and fire alarm and fire suppression system inspections that were two-years overdue. Other projects in the pipeline include electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning work.
At the same time, the department is planning exhibits, interactive displays, public art installations and a public programming calendar. There’s a landscaped neon-sign park with a walking path on the list, too. Sanchez needs additional staffing to help get the center’s event space, outdoor amphitheater and taproom ready for public use.
She said the intention is to move quickly, as two summer’s worth of Route 66 centennial celebrations, the first in 2025, are fast approaching.
Mounting costs
Long before Arts & Culture took the reins, the center was a target of substantial criticism. City and county officials held a slew of congratulatory news conferences, and a ribbon-cutting event two years ago, before the facility was ready to open.
For more: A visitors center with no visitors: When will the taxpayer-funded project open?
Promises were made that the center would bring big economic benefits to the West Central area and spur new development — neither of which has materialized so far. Meanwhile, the costs to maintain the closed facility have continued to mount.
For more: Former city councilor on the still-closed visitors center: ‘It’s a boondoggle and a money pit’
The county previously attempted to forge a public-private partnership with the nonprofit West Central Community Development Group to operate and manage the facility before ultimately deciding to transfer responsibility to the city.
“It just didn’t work. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that,” Sanchez said. “It’s a big undertaking to run a facility that’s complex and has a multifaceted mission. The city and county decided at a leadership level that our department has the expertise, the background and all of the experience to take it over and to move it forward.”
Sanchez said she’s hopeful some costs can be recouped once the center is up and running through hosting public and private events like concerts and cultural performances. The two-story facility boasts sweeping views of the city and the Sandia Mountains, and its 21,000-square-foot interior features a high-end commercial kitchen, tap room and ballroom space. The exterior layout includes an outdoor amphitheater and ample parking with space for food trucks.
Sanchez said she’d like to open the doors as early as May 2025.
“The most important message is that we believe in this project,” Sanchez said. “We want to do right; we want to make it amazing. We want people to come here and be engaged and inspired, and that’s what we’re working toward.”
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