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Andrew Homer's Proposals for Albuquerque's SHARED VISION Townhall 12-13 Nov 99, Copyright 1999 by Andrew Homer There were 7 design teams of architects, business owners and citizens from the neighborhoods who focused on charette sites along the Central Avenue corridor for the East Gateway, Wyoming Blvd, Fairgrounds, Highland, UNM/Carlisle, Rio Grande/Atrisco, and Unser Blvd. Since the projects for the intersections of Wyoming & Central and Louisiana & Central are within the Near Heights Metropolitan Redevelopment Area, that they are the only two plans that could soon be jump-started with State or Federal funds. My idea for the Fairgrounds area is that the Sage & Sand Motel, on Central, that was recently shut down could become office suites, rather than being an approriate location for a school. ~ ~ ~ My idea for the East Gateway is that since it's closest to the windy Tijeras Pass and is the highest elevation on Central Avenue, this area would be the most logical place for an eucalyptus urban forest to provide a windbreak. ~ ~ ~ My idea for any development on the shore of the Rio Grande should include a fish hatchery for any endangered species. ~ ~ ~ Themes - My idea for diversity within a city, each district should have a unique theme. With the two gates to Kirtland AFB being on Louisiana and Wyoming, it would be cute if the theme of Trumbull Village was a futuristic motif. ~ ~ ~ I worked with the Wyoming/Central team. Here are my proposals for what I call Thunderbird Plaza Phase One - Multicultural Community Center (including the Albuquerque Indian Center) should include the Medical Translation Service that can take foreign language calls that the 911 operators can't understand and join immigrants on their medical appointments. I think this should be on the southeast corner and the rest of that pie slice between Zuni and Central should be a park with Zuni east of Wyoming closed off. Phase Two - An Albuquerque Aerospace Museum on the southwest corner. Along with the Wheel Museum, the Aerospace Museum should be apart of a Transportation Academy as a new school offering degree programs through the University of New Mexico. The advantage of Albuquerque having transportation museums, is that students can more clearly see the intelligence and ingenuity of engineers and inventors who've gone before. Hopefully, students will be motivated to take their studies of math and the hard sciences more seriously in anticipation of getting involved in transportation related career fields. Other than postcards and calendars showing hot air balloons, Albuquerque doesn't have any distinguishing landmarks. So, I propose that a full size replica of a Saturn rocket be placed near the Wyoming & Central intersection. (Rather than paying the railway $3,000,000 for those two warehouses, along the downtown railroad tracks, to become The Wheel Museum, UNM should only pay $1, since that land was originally public property in the first place and the railway extracted the economic benefit these last 120 years.) Phase Three - A transportation hub and the administrative offices of the Rio Grande Regional Transit District (on the northeast corner). A park and ride building on the northwest corner which can, also, provide parking for the Aerospace Museum. Currently there's funding for a study for a lightrail between Tijeras and Black Ranch. But the only person I know who likes this route is US Senator Pete Domenici. Everyone I know likes the idea of a lightrail between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. With the rail coming south from Placitas, Wyoming Blvd is still the most logic north-south route within Albuquerque, so the Wyoming & Central intersection is the sensible choice for a transportation hub. ~ ~ ~ Phase Four - While the buildings on each of the four corners will be 3 stories tall, there will be a 2nd floor pedestrian pavilion over the entire Wyoming & Central intersection. The pavilion will be covered by a smokey glass pyramid. The pyramid pavilion will be open 24-hours and in the center will be a food court, a police substation, and restrooms. Four of the team members for the Wyoming/Central charette were Ross Small of the Architects Studio; James Strozier of Consensus Planning; Earl Hilchey of La Resolana Architects; and John Hooker, President of the Albuquerque chapter of the AIA.

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