Farmington gets $50k grant from New Mexico MainStreet for Orchard Plaza project

Mike Easterling, Farmington Daily Times
·3 min read

Farmington officials have received a $50,000 capital outlay award from the state to plan improvements to a popular gathering spot in the heart of the city’s downtown district.

Officials at the New Mexico Economic Development Department and New Mexico MainStreet announced in a news release on Dec. 6 that Farmington was one of 11 communities around the state that had been awarded a total of $10 million in funding. According to the release, the program funds public infrastructure upgrades in targeted public investment areas to positively impact local economies. The projects that receive funding are designed to directly support economic growth, property renovation, public safety, business development and job creation.

The $50,000 Farmington has received will be used toward developing a plan to revitalize Orchard Plaza, the small park located at the northwest corner of Main Street and Orchard Avenue downtown. The park, which already features a large gazebo, a splash pad and several park benches, is the site of the city’s annual TGIF concert series and the weekly Makers Market in the summer, and numerous other public events.

Warren Unsicker, the city’s economic development director, noted that Farmington has received capital outlay funding from the EDD and New Mexico MainStreet previously, a $340,000 grant that was part of the city’s downtown Complete Streets project. He said this round of funding will be used to help restore Orchard Plaza to its former glory, since the park largely was left out of the improvements that were part of the Complete Streets project.

The city of Farmington has received a $50,000 grant from the state to plan improvements to Orchard Plaza, the park on the north side of Main Street at Orchard Avenue in the heart of downtown.
The city of Farmington has received a $50,000 grant from the state to plan improvements to Orchard Plaza, the park on the north side of Main Street at Orchard Avenue in the heart of downtown.

Unsicker said the city would use the money to hire a planning firm to collect public input and decide on a series of improvements for the plaza that will serve as the highest, best use of the space. The $50,000 will not be used to fund any of those improvements, he said, explaining that city officials likely will apply for additional grant funding to cover those construction costs in the future once they have developed a plan for the space.

Those improvements may include such items as improving the accessibility of the gazebo and the open space in the center of the park.

“The consultant will help us envision that,” he said.

Unsicker said there likely will be a series of opportunities for Farmington residents to provide their input on what those improvements should look like.

“Pretty much every time we go about changing the face of Farmington, that’s something we get public feedback on,” he said.

Orchard Plaza is site of the city's TGIF concert series in the summer in addition to various other events held there throughout the year.
Orchard Plaza is site of the city's TGIF concert series in the summer in addition to various other events held there throughout the year.

Unsicker did not have an estimate for when work on the plaza might begin, but he did say the city has two years to spend the capital outlay money by hiring a consultant.

The capital outlay money awarded to Farmington was the smallest grant included in this round of annual funding. The Barelas neighborhood in Albuquerque led the way with a $4 million award to revitalize the South 4th Street area. Other large award winners were the MainStreet projects in Belen, Taos and Truth or Consequences, each of which received $1 million or more.

Jon Clark, New Mexico’s acting Economic Development Secretary, said the capital outlay funding provided by the Legislature for the projects serves a variety of purposes.

“We’re grateful for this funding because these visible improvements make MainStreet districts safer and more accessible/welcoming for the entire community,” he said in a statement included in the news release.

Daniel Gutierrez, New Mexico MainStreet director, also issued a statement, taking a long view of the kind of projects the capital outlay money is designed to fund.

“These public infrastructure projects are years in the making — they require innovative planning ad coordination among many key players,” he said.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Farmington will use state money to plan Orchard Plaza improvements