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Efforts by city officials to convert an underutilized portion of the waterfront assets adjacent to the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park into a public collection position were boosted last month when the state’s tourism authority announced the city would get a $500,000 grant for the project. .
Farmington is one of 10 state grantees who earned a Destination Forward grant from the New Mexico Department of Tourism, a new program introduced through state officials this year. Farmington’s grant is the largest of the 10, with the other nine starting at about $385,000 for the city. grants for new grandstands at the Grants MultiPurpose Arena up to $17,000 for the City of Clovis for interpretive signage at the Hillcrest Park Zoo.
“I am very proud of the hard work and determination of the Department of Tourism staff and netpainting partners who have allowed us to bring the Destination Forward program to life,” Lancing Adams, acting secretary of the ministry, said in a statement released Oct. 1. Press release 27. Press release announcing the subsidies. Our studies show us that demand for travel to New Mexico is at an all-time high. This program will help New Mexico communities better meet this demand so that we can continue to provide high-quality tourism information for those who visit. the Land of Enchantment. “
Warren Unsicker, director of economic progress for the city of Farmington, said the Destination Forward grant was precisely the kind of monetary resources city officials were looking to identify and access when planning various projects for local quality of life. He said city officials have prioritized building long-vacant land on the east and west sides of the Farmington Museum, with its back to the Animas River, and the Destination Forward grant will help them achieve that goal.
Unsicker said the grant would help fund the creation of an entertainment venue on the west side of the museum, a site that lately is largely empty and filled with rocks, brush and debris. Phase 1A of a master plan already approved by the Farmington City Council calls for this domain to be remodeled into an exhibition domain with an amphitheater, a multi-purpose pavilion for the Farmington Farmers Market and other functions, a plaza for festivals, a food truck field, a shaded boardwalk, and spectacular landscaping with berms and trees. .
“This is in addition to this cash reserve that will allow us to temporarily and successfully move forward to expand this,” Unsicker said.
The city has already won a $300,000 federal grant to help build the farmers’ market pavilion, Unsicker said, and is actively seeking other grants that can contribute to that investment fund as well. The city also won a $2 million grant from one of the Gold King Mine Spill Settlement Funds that will be used to build a stable-attached wave on the Animas River at a site adjacent to this project.
The grant programs that the municipality has presented for other federal investment resources are still pending, he said.
Unsicker said the city is already well underway in terms of drawing up plans and getting City Council approval for the entertainment venue. This is vital because the city only has until June 30, 2024, to spend the Destination Forward grant, he said.
“It’s a very tight deadline,” he said.
Unsicker said that, through city officials, the venue will be a networking venue, which can be rented out for weddings or other personal events, as well as a site for concerts or other public performances. He said city officials hope to begin the task soon and all at least part of it until next summer.
“I hope that’s the case,” he said, explaining that some of the origin chain issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic have yet to be resolved and may still cause project delays. “We’re feverishly racing to make it a priority. “
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times. com. Support journalism with a virtual subscription: http://bit. ly/2I6TU0e.
This article gave the impression that the Farmington Daily Times: Farmington is using a $500,000 tourism grant to build a site near the Animas River.
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