 Santa Fe, NM—A new, state of the art venue may give meeting planners and attendees a new reason to rediscover the Santa Fe Trail, the famous 19th century passageway that led to the Capital of New Mexico. Construction of a new Civic Center in Santa Fe began on the last day of November, 2006 with a ceremonial ground breaking. The new center is designed to exceed the needs and expectations of the many meeting planners who have held Santa Fe meetings in the past while offering more options to planners who have been unable to hold events in Santa Fe because of the old center's limitations.
Santa Fe City Council awarded the $49.8 million construction contract for the project to Santa Fe-based Cameron-Swinerton Construction LLC. The building itself will be designed by Santa Fe company, Spears Architects, in collaboration with Denver-based Fentress Bradburn Architects. The project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2008.
"There is always a sense of discovery when building in Santa Fe," said Tom Maguire, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Like few other places, an archeological survey is required before any construction begins in Santa Fe because so much of the city's remarkable past lies just beneath the surface. We hope to incorporate some of what was revealed during the Civic Center survey within the new building."
The new center will provide group and business meetings a state-of-the-art facility. Total space in the center will  increase from just over 45,000 square feet in the old center, to more than 72,000 square feet. Exhibit area will go from 11,400 square feet to nearly 19,000 square feet; the lobby will expand from 3,100 square feet to 9,800 square feet; break-out meeting space will be 8,750 square feet; and the kitchen area will grow from 1,665 square feet to 4,000 square feet. The design will incorporate outdoor areas, fireplaces in some rooms, an open interior courtyard, and the flexibility to simultaneously accommodate multiple meeting, display, and dining needs. The building is also intended to serve the community as a place for local meetings and events.
The design of the center is intended to reflect Santa Fe's environmental awareness as well as the history and traditions of this unique destinations. The new building is expected to be constructed to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver rating, a national standard for developing high-performance sustainable buildings. Santa Fe raised the bar for green design after Santa Fe Mayor David Coss became the first U.S. city mayor to sign the Architecture 2030 Challenge, a national effort to systematically reduce and finally reverse the amount of greenhouse gas emissions created during construction and operation of buildings over the next 24 years.
 The venue itself will fit logistically and aesthetically within the surrounding neighborhood—textured adobe walls, softly rounded corners, and earth colors will echo Santa Fe's historic adobe architecture. In keeping with traditional Santa Fe architecture, the Civic Center has been designed in the pueblo revival style, which includes balconies, portals, an exterior kiva fireplace, wood lintels, and a plaster exterior finish. The new building will be constructed on the same site as the former Sweeney Convention Center; downtown in the heart of Santa Fe's historic district. The center will be within easy walking distance of restaurants, museums, shopping, historic attractions, and over 1,500 hotel rooms.
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