Mayor Tim Keller, District 9 City Councilor Don Harris Break Ground on New Community Center

May 18, 2020

Mayor Tim Keller and District 9 City Councilor Don Harris broke ground today on a new community center for Southeast Albuquerque, along with Cherry/See/Reames Architects and Weil Construction. The groundbreaking event was held on zoom and Facebook live. 

Today, construction on a 15 thousand square foot facility takes place. This new facility will replace an older facility that is 3 portables with a nice façade. The project is anticipated to last 440 days and once completed will have a new fitness room, game room, crafts room, computer room and a warming kitchen.

The City of Albuquerque Family and Community Services Department will run the new and previous facility to accommodate before and after school programs, fitness and art activities, and event programs in partnership with the local community. Staff will be reaching out to the community as the center nears completion to collaboratively plan programming. A small part of the construction will pay tribute to an archaeological site just south of the community center with self-guided education tours.

Mayor Keller said, “We can do better than three portable buildings for our hardworking Southeast Albuquerque residents. The history of this neighborhood and its culture will be a forefront of this project. I would like to thank Councilor Don Harris for his dedication in making this a first class facility.”

“The new Singing Arrow community center will create a sense of place in the far southeast heights.  It will provide much needed before-and-after school programs for the neighborhood children, provide meeting spaces for a wide variety of youth and adult activities in the south foothills neighborhoods, and it will provide fitness and exercise opportunities for adults in the area,” said District 9 City Councilor Don Harris. “Importantly, the new community center will be a hub connecting the area with the natural resource of the Tijeras Arroyo Open Space and the cultural resource of the nearby archeological site.”

“We are extremely happy to be able to start this project for the Singing Arrow community and surrounding neighborhoods.  With the community’s input, we will now be able to offer more programming options for our youth, adults and seniors.  We hope this community center will be a positive inspiration for this area and the City of Albuquerque as a whole,” said Family and Community Services Director Carol Pierce.

The project will cost approximately $5.6 million and was funded by New Mexico State and General Obligation Bonds.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in New Mexico, the City has worked to accelerate construction projects to boost economic recovery.