Arena part of a vision

By Dan Shingler
Tribune Reporter

You couldn't hold a soccer match on the site where the New Mexico Scorpions plan to play hockey in 2006. The cholla cactus and sagebrush are thick enough to stop even Mia Hamm.

But this spot is the one city officials will announce Thursday as the site of Rio Rancho's new $42 million arena.

This spot, where tumbleweeds blowing down Unser Boulevard cross a dirt path through the desert called 28th Avenue, is the future downtown of Rio Rancho.

And not just any downtown but a well-planned, pedestrian-friendly downtown, with a city hall, restaurants, retail shops, movie houses, a sports arena. The works.

"It's called a 'new urbanist setting,' " said Noreen Scott, head of Rio Rancho Economic Development.

"It's an architect's dream," said Mike Skaggs, head of Next Generation Economy, an economic development firm in Albuquerque.

"To get a chance to actually plan a downtown from scratch? That's just amazing," Skaggs said.

But at 28th and Unser?

The location, or lack thereof, should tell you something about just what Rio Rancho plans to become, say observers, including Skaggs.

"They've never even thought about the model of being a suburb city. They've always known, because of the land area that they have, that they were going to be a major city themselves," Skaggs said.

Thus the site. It hardly seems like the center of Rio Rancho, or anything else, let alone a major city. But, look at the city from the air, as seen in a giant wall-sized aerial photo in Scott's office, and you can see that Unser and 28th is in the heart, if not the absolute center, of Rio Rancho.

It is surrounded by a vast grid of other dirt paths, similar to 28th Avenue, which Scott says are the future streets of Rio Rancho.

It's just that, with the exception of a couple of relatively small subdivisions, Rio Rancho hasn't grown out this far yet. But it's coming.

That's why it's such a great site, Skaggs said - the people are on their way, but not there yet.

"That's the given - it's going to happen," Skaggs said of Rio Rancho's population growth. He figures Rio Rancho's population of 50,000 will swell to at least 750,000 people during the next 20 years or so.

"For them to have the opportunity to put a downtown central business district in the heart of it is just really cool," he said.

And now, not later, is when a downtown can be planned and built without having to deal with private property owners, pre-existing water and sewage pipes and numerous generations of telephone and cable television lines. Now it can all be done from scratch - dig now and no one's phone or TV is cut off.

It's not that way when dealing with redevelopment in existing cities, Skaggs said.

"Every 25 feet is owned by somebody else. If you're lucky, they're local, but usually they're from out of town," Skaggs said, describing most urban redevelopment work.

Rio Rancho city administrator Jim Palenick could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

There is plenty to be done. If downtown residents are going to have not only houses but Starbucks within walking distance, there's a lot of cement to pour.

But drive west on Route 550 from I-25, then do it again in a month and you'll get a pretty good idea of just how fast brick can marry mortar. A seemingly endless stream of new housing developments inches farther west on 550 every day.

Rio Rancho's first step in developing its downtown, or at least its first announcement, is for the new arena. The city council will get a peek at an arena Powerpoint presentation tonight at 7.

Scorpions owner Doug Frank is ready to move in, so long as it offers access to a regional fan base from not only Rio Rancho, but other areas such as Albuquerque and Santa Fe. (You read right, Albuquerque is the other area.) The team now plays in Tingley Coliseum on the grounds of Expo New Mexico.

"We're committed to having a new facility for hockey in the metropolitan area. If Rio Rancho is committed to building a facility like this, which is a perfect size for the Albuquerque area and committed to making it accessible, it's a pretty exciting project," Frank said. "I think it's time for us to start looking at regional growth in the metro area as opposed to East Side vs. West Side."

Expo New Mexico general manager Fred Peralta said of the planned arena and of the team's possible move, "We don't know whether or not the project is viable. We are neutral."

Like developing the rest of a new downtown, building the arena won't be easy or inexpensive. City officials reportedly plan to charge a 10 percent surcharge on arena tickets to help pay for the facility.

To put it in perspective, at $42 a ticket (and no, they won't all really cost that much), the city would have to collect 10 percent on the sale of 10 million tickets. With a planned capacity of roughly 7,000, that comes out to 1,428 sold out events. Or, about 60 sold out hockey seasons.

That doesn't include revenues from concessions, parking or other events, or chip-ins from the county or other governments. It also doesn't include the interest on $42 million in bonds.

Suffice it to say, there are details to be worked out and money to be raised.

And not everyone likes the idea of a hockey arena.

The one housing development already in place near 28th and Unser is Centex Homes' Cielo Grande development. Only a few of its planned 138 homes are even up and only about five are occupied.

Catherine Jarman lives in one. A California transplant to Rio Rancho by way of Albuquerque, where she still owns property, Jarman had no false impressions she would be living a life free of development.

"I probably won't even be living here five years from now, I bought this house as an investment," Jarman said.

In fact, Jarman said she's counting on further development to make her home go up in value.

"People want conveniences around them and they want accessibility on roads," she said.

But a 6,500-seat sports arena?

"I wanted to speculate a little bit on the future (development) here, but I don't know if I want a hockey stadium next to me," she said. "That's a little outrageous."

But what if it were part of a planned "urban setting," like a Wrigley Field neighborhood, only brand new?

"Does this look like Wrigley Field to you?" Jarman says, motioning to endless acres of sage and cactuses.

It doesn't. It just looks like a field.

But city officials have other plans. So does Jarman.

"People like me better get down (to city hall) right now and start asking questions," she said.

Others, however think the development will be good for the neighborhood, including Veronica Campos, sales manager for Centex in the development.

"Will you put in the paper that we're going to be downtown?" was her first question. "I think it's going to be pretty neat."

Campos said stores, restaurants and even an arena and concert venue, are amenities families want - and families drive the housing market.

If Campos and Jarman seem to disagree on the attractiveness of a new arena, it may only illustrate the need for urgency on the part of Rio Rancho, though.

After all, in a few years, there will be a lot more folks like Jarman living in the neighborhood - and a lot more people to please with every new plan for downtown.

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