Substation Somewhere

BY ANDREW OXFORD oxford@sfreporter.com

The Santa Fe Police Department for years has been casting around for a substation location that would give the agency, with headquarters just south of Airport Road, a bigger presence on the north end of town.

In the mid-1990s, for example, Chief Donald Grady II proposed building several kiosk-style substations. The goal, as he told The Santa Fe New Mexican at the time, was to make filing police reports “easier than going to McDonald’s.”

The department ultimately moved into a spot at Frenchy’s Field and also set up shop in an old firehouse on West Alameda next to Alto Park. Neither is still open today. The old firehouse has been unused for years and the Frenchy’s Field substation—a sort of cabin-looking building in the parking lot—is no longer a police outpost.

But police argue the need is still there, though pinpointing the specifics of “there” requires unraveling what various city officials have said in recent months.

“We’re trying to get a better presence in the downtown area,” Deputy Chief Ben Valdez tells SFR.

The quickest route from Santa Fe Plaza at the heart of downtown to the Santa Fe Police Department is more than a 6-mile drive down Cerrillos Road. To get from the First Judicial District Courthouse to the station is only a little shorter.

The search for a new space may soon be over, though.

The law enforcement agency is aiming to renovate an office space in City Hall and hopes to turn it into a substation by midyear, as the city’s current budget provides about $100,000 for the site. The long-running search for a downtown location has a couple purposes, Valdez says.

One reason is customer service. Following up with an officer or getting a copy of a report can be difficult or at least inconvenient if it requires a trip across town, he says.

“For our customers, that’s difficult,” Valdez adds.

It could also be more efficient for the department to move employees downtown who have to regularly travel to the First Judicial District Court. That’s at least a half-hour round trip from the department’s headquarters.

City leaders recently paved the way for police to set up a substation in the Railyard, too, though officials are sending mixed messages about the plan.

Mayor Alan Webber and the City Council voted last week to change the municipal government’s contract with the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation, raising the prospect of installing a cop shop at the old train station.

The city owns the station but has an agreement with the corporation to manage the Railyard. So, the city leases the station back from the corporation for $36,000 a year.

The city is in the middle of renovating the historic train depot—an instantly Instagrammable backdrop for tourists, a gateway to Santa Fe for commuters and a site of interest for rail enthusiasts. While crews finish up the renovation, Terry Lease, the city’s asset development manager, told councilors in a January memo that the longterm goal is to install a place for police in the old train station.

“Once complete, the city would like to make further investments into this building to create a police substation that would serve the Railyard, non-profit and down- town communities,” Lease wrote.

Christine Robertson, executive director of the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation, said the group would welcome a police substation at the campus.

It would be just the latest approach to ramping up security for the Railyard.

About a decade ago, the city paid to hire private security guards to patrol the 50-acre campus to shoo away loiterers and keep an eye on local businesses and the Railyard Park. And over the last year, several shop owners in the area have complained of break-ins.

By changing the city’s contract with the Railyard Community Corporation, the city will no longer need to rent the property back from the nonprofit—which Lease described as a “convoluted, cumbersome” process that also requires the organization to exercise oversight and approval of city development at the site.

The change gives the city government complete control over the depot building. That, in turn, clears the way for a police substation and tourist kiosk (another feature city officials have suggested).

The contract change includes the same deal for the old Warehouse 21 building, too, giving the city more direct control over that property. The building, situated where the railroad tracks cross Paseo de Peralta and neighboring the Railyard Park, formerly housed a well-used youth arts program but has been vacant for several years. While the future of the building is unclear, Lease wrote it needs repairs. Under the contract change, the city can use the building without having to enter into a sublease with the Railyard Community Corporation or rent it to a third party.

Valdez says he requested several months ago for the police department to use the old Warehouse 21 building, but other city officials say they aren’t planning for either the depot or the former arts building to house police officers, after all.

While Lease told councilors part of the reason for rejigging the Railyard contract was to accommodate a police substation there, City Clerk Kristine Mihelcic tells SFR there are no plans to put a substation in the Railyard.

In an email, Mihelcic writes that officials are “exploring other options,” noting the plan to use City Hall. Lease didn’t respond to an email seeking more information.