OSFA's Vigilance on La Bajada Mesa (Newsletter Winter 2015) A proposed gravel mining facility threatens the geology, ecology and historic landscape of La Bajada, south of Santa Fe on the I-25 corridor. This area contains multiple spur routes associated with El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: the early trade route connecting 17th Century Spanish Colonists with Mexico City. The Old Santa Fe Association has added its voice to hundreds of New Mexicans opposing the mining operation, with representatives speaking in public forums offered the Santa Fe County Commission. Beside the historic character of the area, which has been for centuries used only for subsistence grazing, citizen opposition centers on the operation's allegedly unsustainable use of precious water resources. You can visit the website savelabajada.org for details, or go to the blog site Save La Bajada Mesa for updated information on how you can participate in these efforts in Historic Preservation.
OSFA recently spearheaded the effort to place three of our town's remaining historic bridges under enhanced preservation protection. We are most proud of this achievement, and encourage you to look into this often-overlooked piece of our architectural heritage.
Enhancing Preservation Status of Santa Fe Landmarks This effort would not been successful without the aid of historian John Murphey of FirstLight Consulting, who prepared historical reports for each of these bridges in order to support our petitions to both city and state for greater protection and preservation. John has graciously shared with us the reports he drafted in order to fulfill the requirements of the status upgrade submissions. They are fascinating reading and contain more deep Santa Fe history than you might think. We are happy to make them available to you here.
Please select the bridge you would like to research by clicking one of the links below the photograph:
During the 2018 city-wide elections, OSFA sponsored a questionnaire that was offered to candidates, in order to take a closer look at their views regarding ways in which the character of Santa Fe might be enhanced or threatened- themes at the heart of our mission. We feel the effort was well worth it, and shared it earlier with our membership via email communication. We offer here, a refresher of sorts, so that you can reflect on how these candidates, now city officials, are perhaps not only keeping to their word- but hopefully moving forward in the spirit of keeping Santa Fe the unique place that it has always been.
By clicking on the links below, you may access the complete PDFs of the questionnaires and the responses received.
Here are some of the issues and properties on our current Watch List:
Restoration of Santa Fe County Courthouse(Grant St. and Palace Ave.) We are happy to see that the County has plans to "scrape back" inappropriate alterations performed on the building over the years, restoring the building to match the original vision of Architect, (and OSFA Co-Founder) John Gaw Meem. New SF County Administration BuildingOn the location previously home to the Leah Harvey Junior High School (built in 1937), plans are solicited for a new building to house the Administration Offices of Santa Fe County. This property could potentially bookend with the aforementioned Courthouse as an updated example and architectural expression of Santa Fe "Style". It lies diagonally across from the downtown Post Office on Grant Avenue, adjacent and to the north of the magnificent First Presbyterian Church complex (also created by local Architect, John Gaw Meem) We would hope to see a building which honors the spirit of an earlier Santa Fe in this spot. Previously submitted plans which offered a few "modernistic" touches were dismissed by the County. See Fall 2018 Newsletter Story Halprin Building (Montezuma and Guadalupe)The New Mexico Museum of Art plans to perform an adaptive Re-Use on this property as an adjunct space for curating and displaying modern art. Of primary concern are potential impacts to the streetscape of the historic Guadalupe District. The building facade facing Guadalupe Street is dominated by a vernacular mural which is in dire need of a restoration. See Fall 2018 Newsletter Story St. Michael's Drive Corridor Plans are in the works to "Re-Mike" the corridor (so to speak), updating and making the neighborhood more pedestrian friendly, while minimizing the sense of "development sprawl "that has been allowed to take place over the years. A New Hotel Proposed Adjacent to the Loretto Chapel After multiple visits to the Historic Districts Review Board for consultation, preliminary approval has been granted this project, and we are awaiting further developments. St. Catherine's Indian School This is a property that has languished for years since the school's closing. We would hope that a buyer can be found with the resources and expertise to restore and re-purpose what is perhaps Santa Fe's largest historic adobe structure. Proposed "Flying-J" Truckstop Impacts and congestion in the southern entryway to Santa Fe off of I-25 are a concern to nearby resident in the area, and a great many Santa Feans have already spoken out against this project. See Fall 2018 Newsletter Story The Old Pecos Trail Corridor Similarly, neighborhood residents and citizens are pushing back against inappropriate development in the neighborhood that would have a negative impact on this unique entry into Santa Fe, one which we hope to protect and enjoy, residents and visitors alike, well into the future.
Recent news: Meanwhile, though we have had to continue having our meetings employing the ZOOM option, we may actually begin to have board meetings in person once again this year.
We are excited to have three new individuals join our board! Many will know Fletcher Catron as a long-time Santa Fe Lawyer. Robin Farwell Gavin has had an enviable career as an anthropologist and museum curator in our city, and David Valdo, lifelong Santa Fe native, is tasked with protecting the health and welfare of technicians at LANL. To have such a varied breath of life experience and knowledge available on our board is indeed a blessing in these times. One political downside that we perceive ongoing, which may have been in part enabled by restrictions on process at the city imposed by the threat of Covid-19 and variants, is a seeming lack of transparency in government. Information exchange is at a minimum when your only platform is ZOOM. In this dynamic, the voice of the people becomes diminished in favor of "moving things along". This we see as one of the major challenges we face in these times, unfortunately. We will continue to strive for open government and recognition that our city is where we live, not just a canvas for development and growth.
"Sense of Place" Award from The National Geographic Society
March 8, 2017 In case you missed this news in the spring, we are pleased to report that the City of Santa Fe has been recognized with a "World Legacy Award" from the National Geographic Society for our "Sense of Place". This award honors destinations or organizations that are driving positive transformation in sustainable tourism practices, and effectively sharing their history with visitors. We are most gratified by this award, as the Old Santa Fe Association has spearheaded historic preservation efforts for nearly 100 years in the southwestern United States.
Click on this link to view the awards announcement on NGS's webpage. For local coverage of this award, you can access the Santa Fe New Mexican as well.
"The number-one draw for Santa Fe is tourism, and the number-one reason for tourism is the cultural authenticity of this town. If it is not guarded, this pride, this award– if its reason for existing and being given to us is not guarded and not seen as important, it can disappear along with all that attracts people here." John Pen La Farge President, OSFA
The following essay, written in response to the City of Santa Fe's receipt of this award, was published in the Winter 2017 issue of our newsletter, but relavant always. Most unexpectedly, in March, 2017, Santa Fe was announced as having been given the award for Sense of Place by the National Geographic Society. The award was given in Berlin, Germany, at the World Legacy Awards ceremony, and was accepted by Randy Randall on behalf of Santa Fe. Randall, head of Tourism Santa Fe, and his team, led by Cynthia Delgado, had quietly applied for the award, and, it is safe to say, astonished the city by convincing the National Geographic (Society) that our city deserved the honor. That is, of all the cities in the world, any one of which could have been given the award, Santa Fe was considered the most deserving. The society describes the award as, “Recognizing excellence in enhancing cultural authenticity, including using vernacular architecture and design, support for the protection of historic monuments, archeological sites, indigenous heritage, and artistic traditions.”
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported the honor of our receiving the award this way, “The city of Santa Fe bested Adventure Canada, a family-owned outdoor experience company, and Awamaki, a Peru-based nonprofit that aids impoverished indigenous women, as decided by an international panel of more than 20 judges.” This description points up the worldwide nature of the National Geographic’s search for a city deserving of this award and why Santa Fe must feel honored to have been selected. I say, “must”, because we have received so many awards over the years that the temptation is to become blasé. This award, however, is different.
The newspaper article (in The Santa Fe New Mexican, March 8, 2017, by Tripp Stelnicki) goes on to quote Mayor Javier González, “It is about the cultural vibrancy, the presence of people from all walks of life, the city’s commitment to preserve our historic buildings,” which is true, but which also points up how large and unending the task is of keeping Santa Fe true to itself, a task which, of course, your association tackles constantly. John Feins, public relations manager of Tourism Santa Fe, says, “We talk bout ‘the City Different,’ and we talk about ‘only in Santa Fe’ — these aren’t just marketing slogans; these are who we are... This award was 400 to 1,000 years in the making. People have been taking care of Santa Fe and carrying its traditions and stories forward for centuries and centuries.”
What Feins says is true, but causes your president to think that the flow of ideas, some worthy some unworthy, of what ought to be, built or remodeled or changed, brings with them an unending series of challenges, inasmuch as “sense of place” is so rarely considered. City staff, in its entirety, unlike Charleston, South Carolina, for example, is not trained by the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) to consider the centrality of history and integrity to every aspect of how the city is run. The HPD itself, is not given the weight it ought to have in city policy or city construction. The same must be said, also, of the county. Interestingly, the state has often been more forthcoming and understanding in considering our history.
It is an unending source of puzzlement that the qualities that make Santa Fe internationally famous, that bring visitors from thousands of miles away and that support a cultural, historical and aesthetic environment which makes for an outstanding place for its citizens, are not uppermost in every calculation of architects, businesses, civic leaders, and government agencies. Sense of place is not merely vital, but it is remarkably easy to understand and, here, to see and feel. The ancient trope of “killing the golden goose” is overused, but it has often been and unfortunately often still is applicable to Santa Fe. What we are has been hundreds of years in the making, and the keeping of our sense of place ought not to be an endless battle; it ought to be central to the consciousness of every citizen and visitor. For those who have lived in The City Different for a prolonged time and have watched its changes and developments, it may seem that our city’s winning this award is a bit of only partially- earned good fortune, given how much has changed and has been changed carelessly. Part of the importance of the award is what others see in us— that they see authenticity, heritage, and tradition. This is what our city, now, thrives on, and keeps us vital and economically successful. We must guard against ego, corruption, greed, continued carelessness, and foolish exploitation if we wish to deserve this award, and perhaps more importantly, if we wish to deserve a like award in 100 years. John Pen La Farge
Mural and Museum In the last few years, we attempted to facilitate communication between the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and interested parties with regards to a controversy over removal and destruction of a street mural on the eastern facade of the Halpin Building on Guadalupe Street, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Click onthis linkto access a past newspaper article regarding this issue. You can also read an earlier editorial by linkinghere. Our winter 2020 newsletter contains an opinion piece by community activist Rick Martinez.
Santa Fe Living Treasures Honorees May 7, 2017 Longtime OSFA board member Richard McCord, along with lifetime supporter and member, Nancy Meem Wirth, were honored as Santa Fe Living Treasures this spring. McCord, author of multiple books on Santa Fe and New Mexico, is best known as the co-founder, editor and publisher of The Santa Fe Reporter. A distinguished journalist, his editorials at the weekly took top honors from the both the New Mexico and Albuquerque press associations, along with second place from the Scripps Howard Foundation. He has also been a runner-up for a Pulitzer Prize during his career.
Nancy Meem Wirth, daughter of OSFA founder John Gaw Meem and his wife Faith Bemis Meem, has followed in the footsteps of her parents, co-founding Cornerstones Community Partnerships, in an effort to preserve New Mexico's unique churches and iconic, historic adobe structures. She furthers her outreach in the community as a volunteer in the Dual Language Program of the Camino Real Academy, in Santa Fe, NM. We are immensely pleased at the recognition received by our members, and offer them a sincere congratulations. Photos by Genevieve Russell
Heritage awards Due to ongoing restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 crisis, we have had to curtail public presentation of the annual Heritage Preservation Awards. Instead we have simply made the announcements through an advertising feature in both The Santa Fe New Mexican daily newspaper, and the beloved Pasatiempo.
Awards for 2021 will be handled in a similar fashion, with announcements in late May. To view details of the 2020 awards, click on this link.
An Afternoon with Writer/Historian, Enrique R. Lamadrid In July of 2019, OSFA held a special event presenting and honoring Enrique Lamadrid, professor emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese history at the University of New Mexico. The occasion celebrated the forthcoming publication of "Nacion Genizara", which Prof. Lamadrid co-edited with Moises Gonzalez. This timely book updates our knowledge of history in New Mexico by exploring the expanding body of work by local Hispanic researchers who have been studying the unique culture and make-up of the "Genizaro" population of Northern New Mexico. Recent study attempts to bring our understanding of a truly unique swatch of our cultural fabric out of the realm of mythology into our current, accepted interpretation of New Mexico history. (photo: Gabriela Campos)
