CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Hotel Parq Central

Family Business Steeped in History, Philanthropy

As native Santa Feans, the Bertram family—Marc, Cathryn, Alicia, Amalia and Julia—is keenly attuned to life in a city and state where history beckons at every turn. Their appreciation translates to businesses steeped in a sense of place and support for the cultural community.

Among the businesses the family has developed over nearly 40 years in real estate is the Hotel Parq Central, a Lead Corporate Partner of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation at the $10,000 level. Located a mile from downtown Albuquerque, the luxury boutique hotel is a historic landmark originally built in 1926 as a hospital for employees of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company. The three-story, Mediterranean-inspired building later housed tuberculosis and psychiatric patients as well.

Acquiring the property in 2010, the Bertrams’ architectural and interior restoration remained faithful to its story as a place of comfort and renewal. Guests today can book a room in the former doctors’ quarters where on-call physicians once lounged. Primo sky-gazing spots are coveted at the rooftop Apothecary Lounge, which specializes in flavored bitters, signature Prohibition-era cocktails and savory small plates. Its healing offerings aside, the menu notes the lounge is “not a licensed pharmacy.”

The Bertrams’ support for the museum system also extends to their hometown of Santa Fe. Last fall, when the Foundation’s two Museum Hill shops shut down due to the pandemic, they stepped in to help keep the shops afloat during the vital holiday retail season.

“The museum system is an important part of this town, and it has been forever. It’s like your neighbor asking you for a favor,” says Marc Bertram.

Their donation of prime downtown retail space for a special Holiday Pop-Up Shop provided exposure for products from the shuttered shops. The pop-up shop’s eight-week presence on Lincoln Avenue added energy to the downtown business community suffering from the COVID-19 slowdown.

Looking ahead to 2021, Bertram says his family is committed to continuing its support of history and the cultural community in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

“We’re a local family. We love this place. We’re in it forever,” Bertram says. “We’ve all got to do what we can to keep this community alive.”

Right: Exterior view of the historic Hotel Parq Central at dusk near downtown Albuquerque. Photo Courtesy Hotel Parq Central. For information on becoming a Corporate Partner, contact Mariann Lovato at Mariann@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0849.