I’m going to print an e-mail I received from Michael Taylor, program manager for the Route 66 Preservation Program:
El Vado’s status is still very much up in the air. The more people that fill the rooms at the upcoming meetings, the better. I think it would be especially important to get Albuquerque residents to appear at the meetings in favor of El Vado’s preservation. If you can’t make it, more letters are needed.
Ed Boles, Preservation Planner for the City of Albuquerque, updated me on the following aspects of the situation as it stands today (some of this probably many of you are already aware of):
********************************
The Landmarks Commission deferred a decision on the application until its December 14 public hearing. There were procedural reasons and a need for more information than was presented in the application and analysis. Some public testimony was heard, and it was dominated by people who supported the owner’s assertion that he was considering leaving a small portion of El Vado standing to be donated to an unnamed party.
Anyone who wants the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission to recommend that the City Council designate El Vado a City Landmark should appear and speak, if possible, at the December 14 hearing. If that’s not possible, writing the Commission and its chairman, William Dodge, is advised. The Commission’s address is c/o City of Albuquerque Planning Department, 600 Second Street NW, Suite 300, Albuquerque NM 87102. (Editor’s note: E-mails can be forwarded to Dodge through Public Information Officer Deborah Nason at dnason@cabq.gov or Sherri Hines at shines@cabq.gov)
***************************
There remains the owner’s application to re-zone the land for a residential use. That would harm prospects for preservation.
Anyone who wants to see El Vado saved might best make reasoned arguments on its merits as a commercial property to the Environmental Planning Commission and as a City Landmark to the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission. (The Planning Commission will meet on December 15, a day after the Landmarks Commission Meeting.)
It may also be useful to communicate with Mayor Chavez (e-mail: mayor@cabq.gov) and incoming City Councilor Isaac Benton, whose commitment to the place will be essential to a good long-term outcome. (Editor’s note: Benton can be e-mailed at isaac@benton4council.com)