The acquisition of the Wells Fargo building in March is fueling excitement as officials explore its potential to enhance village government operations, hoping to benefit administrative efficiency and community services.
Mayor Jim Fahey, Village Administrator Ron Curry, and Melanie Romero, the Village Clerk, conducted a walk-through of the building to explore potential future uses and development opportunities.
According to Romero, the purchase of the building closed on March 1, for $395,000. It also came with 3 acre-feet of water rights along with the building. Â
“We’re super excited about moving forward with this project with lots of ideas and we’re hoping that it’ll be a real benefit to the community,†said Romero.
Village officials initially discussed making it a multi-use facility.
Romero said that Rhea Serna, a community development professional affiliated with New Mexico MainStreet, is assisting the village in assessing the historical uses of the building and identifying potential future uses. Additionally, Serna is aiding the village by formulating an overarching plan for all recently acquired properties and providing cost estimates for renovating the bank building.
As reported by the Comment, the Wells Fargo building is situated on a 3-acre lot that adjoins La Entrada Park and the Gonzales property, which Romero said the village finalized the purchase in Dec. This strategic location offers significant potential for seamless expansion into the park and the Gonzales property could be repurposed for additional parking or other complementary uses.
According to Romero, the village is proposing three main uses for the property–making a larger visitor center for the village, a space for local boards and commissions to meet and storage for village records.
Corrales Main Street has a contract with the village to manage its visitor center. However, the current visitor center is situated in a compact office space at the rear of the courthouse building.
Secondly, there is a pressing need for a dedicated public meeting space, especially as multiple boards and commissions lack a suitable venue when Village Council chambers are in use for other meetings. The space needs to be equipped with Zoom capabilities, enabling groups to hold meetings autonomously and supporting hybrid meetings that keep the public informed about village affairs.
The last major thing the village needs is storage for the village records.
“As clerk, I have to maintain all the personnel records of every employee in the village and I have to keep those records for 55 years after they leave employment in the village,†said Romero. “The village has only been incorporated for 52 years. So that means theoretically I should have every single employee that the village has ever employed by the village.â€
One of the primary goals of New Mexico MainStreet is to assess the impact of the three components on traffic flow and decide if they are the best uses for the building.
Romero said the Parks and Recreation Department conducted a public survey in 2018 which revealed a high demand for public restrooms at the park. As a result, the village is considering making public restrooms available for visitors in the building.
The village won’t receive funding for the projects until the estimates come in from New Mexico MainStreet which takes six to eight weeks.
The 3 acre-feet of water rights that accompany the building will help the village. Romero said Corrales does not have enough water rights to water the properties the village owns, so it leases water rights from the Town of Bernalillo. On average, the village spends $3,000 annually, with the previous fiscal year costing $3,100.
“That helps diminish the number of rights we have to lease from another entity every year just to be able to maintain the park and the fields at the rec center that we already have,†she said.