City of Albuquerque Collaborates with Local Partners on Major Projects
November 21, 2019
The City of Albuquerque has begun to seek formal partnership with various local agencies and organizations on two major projects, including the multi-use soccer facility and a housing and services “Gateway Center” for the homeless.
Among the groups initially contacted by the City are Bernalillo County, the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico United, New Mexico Activities Association, Bernalillo Area state legislators and Mesa Del Sol. The City asked for partnership on the construction and operation of these projects, by way of land, capital funding, operations funding, non-recurring funding, supportive services, and fee waivers.
“When our city comes together and combines resources, we have a far better opportunity to broadly meet community needs,” Mayor Tim Keller said. “After the mandate from voters at the recent election, we’ve had an incredible response from people in our community who want to help. We’re offering concrete ways for local agencies and organizations to meaningfully partner in tangible ways to make these projects a success.”
The Gateway Center will serve as a central place to connect people to permanent housing, behavioral health services, and other resources needed to ensure that the emergency shelter is part of a larger path that gets people off the streets and into safety. It will be open to men, women, and families with children, and will stay open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Design of the emergency shelter will begin in early 2020 and construction will begin in early 2021.
The multi-use soccer practice facility would serve as a practice field for the New Mexico United professional soccer team, and also be available for use by high school teams, college teams, and potentially other community teams for tournaments and other events. The City Council recently approved a Lodger’s Tax package that includes $3.5 million for the development of a soccer practice facility.