Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza

Ten acres may seem small when discussing open space, but in Santa Fe, these acres have packed a punch and served the community in myriad ways since they became the Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza.

Two famous railway systems once converged here: the Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG) and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (ATS&F). For more than a century, the land housed railway stations, tracks, and sidings; coal and oil depots; lumberyards; and warehouses.

With the decline of the railroads in the mid-20th century, the railyard had become a collection of deteriorating industrial buildings and empty, dusty lots. Then businesses stepped in to reinvent the area with popular restaurants, excursion trains, and short-distance freight lines.

Community members became concerned when a developer proposed a dense, six-story project on the site. The city council quickly vetoed the proposal, leading the mayor, city council members, and constituents to form a plan to protect these precious historical acres.

Today, the Railyard Park and Plaza holds pride of place amid an eclectic, vibrant city; museums, galleries, live-work studios, an elementary school, and a teen center all adjoin the park.

In 1995, Trust for Public Land took its first step in a 13-year journey with the project by acquiring the railyard for the city. Later, the city asked TPL to raise funds for and manage the park’s design and construction. Ultimately, TPL’s first urban project in New Mexico became one of its longest-running and most ambitious.

TPL and partners led a community planning process to ensure that the property met the community’s needs. Recreation opportunities include walking and biking trails, a park, a plaza, picnic areas, a children’s play area, and a mix of live-work and commercial and nonprofit entities, such as the Santa Fe Farmers Market, El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, Warehouse 21 Teen Arts Center, and the SITE Santa Fe arts center. The nonprofit Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation is the developer and property manager for the commercial development of the railyard property.

“The success of the Railyard Park and Plaza [is] due to a vibrant public-private partnership between a variety of organizations who [cooperated] to make every piece of the railyard development puzzle fit into place,” says Jenny Parks, director of TPL’s New Mexico office.

About 6,000 residents contributed ideas for redeveloping the former railyard.

“Residents are the experts, and we needed to learn from them,” adds Steve Robinson, an architect and founding member of the resource center and an early proponent of public participation in the redevelopment process.