Local artists may find more arts facilities along MainStreet as Española business owners continue to push for downtown development.
Kelly Duran, president of the Española Valley Chamber of Commerce, said more businesses are set to open downtown in the coming months.
He said development downtown would be important to enriching the city’s history and culture.
“(MainStreet) has a lineage dating back to 1598 when Juan de Oñate and his party settled in this area,” Duran said. “But more importantly, in any municipality, the downtown (area) is somewhat the heart, the root of culture, of arts. It plays a part in the history. We want to preserve our history as much as we possibly can.”
The Chamber held a Downtown Development Update event on June 5, during which, business owners in the area informed attendees about the progress of their establishments downtown.
For example, Española now has an abode for stage performances.
MainStreet Theater owner Rosalia Triana said the facility started staging plays and an adult chorus last month, although planning for the facility started two years ago because the building had to be brought up to city code.
She said the theater just obtained its tax-exempt status two weeks ago.
“It just seems right that this would be the place to do it,” she said. “We could bring energy back to the center of Española. Española is such a great place, and I want to show it off.”
Participants will rehearse at the theater throughout the summer, leading to stage performances in August and September.
Triana, who once ran the theater program at Northern New Mexico College, when it was Northern New Mexico Community College, said installing more arts facilities in the city would attract more people to Española.
“People drive from Santa Fe to Taos and don’t stop,” she said. “We want a place that people come to so they see that there’s living culture down here.”
Roger Montoya, founder of the Hunter Arts and Agricultural Center, said plans are underway to install the conservatory component of the facility downtown. He said the old Hunter building is undergoing remediations so that it will be up to city code.
The building is also waiting on environmental evaluations from the city and will need to have restrooms and roof repairs finished before it can be in acceptable condition, he said.
Montoya said the facility, which will accommodate young artists, ages 13 to 18, will be ready in one year. In the meantime, the center is working on a mural project that started two weeks ago, for which it has raised $20,000 from various sources.
He said it would help economic development in the city through education.
“Education is the best investment because it will give young people a chance to think about how they would go out and develop themselves and eventually come back as teachers,” Montoya said. “In terms of the whole picture, we’re talking job creation on a pretty big scale.”
He said the facility will put more jobs in the area and will employ about 20 staff members, five of which will be part-time.
Triana said arts facilities downtown will increase business activity in the city.
“We have enough things now,” she said. “We need more than businesses, we need entertainment. Businesses are good, too, but they support each other — people will come for entertainment and then they’ll visit the businesses.”
Besides arts facilities, Duran said the chamber is helping to publicize the Blue Heron Brewery, which is set to open along Main Street next month.
The Chamber is also collaborating with owners to help put the Española Food Hub in place in the area.