From Old Railyard To Park Attraction: The Transformation Of Santa Fe Railyards

摘要

After more than fifteen years of discussion, community action, planning and design, the Santa Fe Railyards Park, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, held its grand opening in mid-September, 2008. The twelve-acre park is a part of the fifty-acre former Santa Fe rail-yards and warehouse district, now undergoing transformation into a twenty-first century festival marketplace and arts and cultural corridor. The guiding principles for the park vision came out of the 1997 Community Plan and the 2001 Railyard Master Plan. The plans stated that: 'the architectural quality of the rail yard should be authentic, gritty, rugged and not be sanitized or perfumed in character. This is a tall order for designers, particularly in Santa Fe where sanitized, perfumed grittiness is the foundation of the city's image. The site, in fact, was a gritty, authentic and rugged place before any intervention, and was used by people and prairie dogs.