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Old Santa Fe Railyard
Back on Track to Revitalization
Santa Fe, New Mexico
The first train pulled into Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1880 on the 15-mile spur from
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad's main rail line running between Chicago
and San Francisco, leading to a boom in tourism and economic and social opportuni-
ties for local residents. The Railyard was an active center for the community by the
1940's, a site for ice skating in winter and the circus traveling through town. A
number of businesses thrived then, but for the past few decades the Railyard had
been essentially vacant.
In the 1980's, as another economic upturn progressed
in Santa Fe, the City declared the Railyard a blighted
area and engaged its citizenry in planning for its re-
newal. The public responded with a strong desire to
keep the railroad running to the historic depot, create
a large park, enhance local business opportunities,
and form an arts and cultural district within the
Railyard. The City purchased the site.
Old Santa Fe Railyard
Santa Fe Railyard Today
Before the revitalization process could move forward,
site contamination, a legacy from the historic industrial
uses of the Railyard, needed to be addressed. The
City of Santa Fe was one of the first recipients of an
assessment grant under the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency's pilot brownfields program. The
$200,000 grant included funding to study cleanup
alternatives, organize neighborhood partnerships,
conduct community outreach, and remove barriers to
redevelopment. In 2001 an EPA Targeted Brown-
fields Assessment was provided to characterize the
contaminants in the soil and groundwater which were
identified as lead and other metals, and petroleum
and petroleum products. The City entered the site
in the New Mexico Environment Department's (NMED) Voluntary Cleanup Program
through which additional environmental assessment was completed. NMED issued
a Certificate of Completion in 2006.
Today the 50-acre Railyard is a successful blending of live-in artist studios, galleries,
museums, farmers' market, retail shops, office space, and over thirteen acres of
open space with a park, plaza and pedestrian promenade. Funding from public and
private sources totaled $125 million. The City contracted with the non-profit Santa
Fe Railyard Community Corporation to manage sustainable revitalization in keeping
with the community's vision. The Trust for Public Land was engaged to ensure per-
manent care for the park. The Railyard grand opening was held in September
2008. For more information, contact Janet E. Brooks at NMED, 505-827-2242,
janete.brooks@state.nm.us.
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