by Matthew Jaffe, Sunset senior writer
Santa Fe may be turning 400 years old but for all of its history, this is a city that’s also looking toward the future. Nowhere is that more evident than in the city's Railyard District, where onetime industrial and railroad land about half a mile from the city's historic plaza is being transformed into the 12-acre Railyard Park and Plaza.
It's part of a 50-acre, $125 million project that will link up the park with the city’s Guadalupe District and new commercial development (an REI will be one of the anchors), as well as a concentration of contemporary art galleries and cultural venues, a farmers market space, and nearby residences.
Weather problems this winter and spring slowed work on the park but a grand opening celebration is still set for September 12-14. I got a sneak preview of the park thanks to Brian Drypolcher, project director for the Trust for Public Land, the organization that helped acquire the land and that is directing the design and construction work on the park and plaza. Landscape architect Ken Smith (who is also designing the ambitious Orange County Great Park) created the park’s plan.
What is striking about the site is how it both diverges from prevailing impressions of Santa Fe while integrating aspects of the city’s history and traditions. Instead of taking its lead from the city’s Pueblo Revival style, the Railyards draws its inspiration and look from the property’s railroad and industrial history. Materials such as train car wheel assemblies and recycled rails edging walkways will be incorporated into the park and a circular ramada will recall the railway turntable once located on the property.
But the parcel is no hardscape, not with trumpet vine destined to grow on a trellis covering walkways, orchards of fruit trees, and a newly planted cottonwood bosque-in-training. Water for a community garden will come from the Acequia Madre, the 400-year-old irrigation system that runs through the property, and an innovative harvesting system designed to capture runoff from 3.7 acres of rooftops will supply 60-70 percent of the park’s water needs.
Even as work continues on the park, elements of the larger project are coming together. Warehouse 21, an arts and cultural center for teens and young people, opened in late June and the farmers market is set to start on August 2. The Railrunner commuter train should begin service between Albuquerque and Santa Fe by the end of the year.
Some have likened the Railyards to a Santa Fe plaza for the next millennium. And it will certainly be fascinating to see how both locals and visitors make this new and alternative vision of Santa Fe their own. For now, says Drypolcher, the reaction is quite simple: “Wow, holy smokes, it’s really happening.”
