Public Gets Preview of Rio Rancho's Future Downtown and Entertainment District
By Joshua Akers
Journal Staff Writer
A $47 million arena isn't done yet, but that didn't stop Rio Rancho from showing off the cornerstone of its attempt to make somewhere out of nowhere.
With five months to go until the first event on Oct. 20, crews took time out Thursday as the city opened the construction site to the public for lunch and tours.
It's a big step for a city without a movie theater and with limited entertainment options for its swelling population, now estimated at over 70,000.
The Rio Rancho events center will be the first building completed on 160 acres of sand and sagebrush that the city hopes to transform into an entertainment district and eventually the heart of downtown Rio Rancho.
City Manager Jim Palenick told the crowd of over 200 about the reactions he received when he brought people to the site near the intersection of Unser Boulevard and the then nonexistent Paseo del Volcan more than two years ago.
"When I first brought people out to this hillside and we looked out at the sage and chamisa, and I told them our vision and to imagine an arena here, I got a lot of mumbles and shaking heads," Palenick said. "It is fantastic to come out today and stop imagining because we are seeing vision become reality."
The backdrop of blue sky and the Sandias dwarfed the speakers on the podium. Palenick used his hands to point through the beams as he asked the crowd to imagine the things to come.
"This building will serve as a cornerstone to a complete downtown and entertainment district built completely from scratch," he said. "There will soon be high-end restaurants and a movie theater. We hope very shortly to announce a major motion picture theater to anchor the north side of this property and a full-service campus of the University of New Mexico adjacent to this site."
Mayor Kevin Jackson said he remembered the response he got when he told people he lived in Rio Rancho in the 1960s.
"We used to be laughed at by people for living in Rio Rancho by people from all over the state," Jackson said. "But they are moving here now and it's not a laughing matter anymore. This is a great city."
The arena is being financed through revenue bonds as well as $8 million from Sandoval County. The city will pay off the revenue bonds through a surcharge on all items sold in the events center including tickets.
Sen. James Taylor, D-Albuquerque, was instrumental in passing legislation allowing the city to use a surcharge to pay for the bonds.
Taylor, who represents the South Valley, was on hand for the ceremony and took the opportunity to take a shot at Rio Rancho's southern neighbor.
"What Albuquerque won't do or can't do, Rio Rancho can," Taylor said delivering the loudest applause line of the day. "I may live in the South Valley, but I can look up on the hill and know there are some neat things going on."
The city hopes the arena will host more than 150 events per year.
The New Mexico Scorpions left Tingley Coliseum in favor of the new arena and the team is scheduled to play 32 home games at the site starting in late October or early November.
The city hopes an Arena League Football franchise will call Rio Rancho home.
Global Entertainment of Scottsdale, Ariz., will manage the facility and is working to bring concerts, family shows, motorsports, trade shows and community events to the arena.
Rio Rancho is opening up the event center for tours over the next four months. The tours are scheduled for four Saturdays starting June 10 and again on July 8, Aug. 12 and Sept. 9.
Reservations are required for one of the three scheduled times of 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m.
Reservations can be made online at www.rioranchoeventscenter.com or by calling 962-0700.
ARENA FACTS
Rio Rancho Multipurpose Event Center Scheduled completion date: Oct. 20 Seating: 6,500 for hockey; 8,000 for concerts Main tenant: New Mexico Scorpions Hockey Square feet: 165,000 Amount of dirt removed from site: More than 1 million cubic yards Tons of steel: 1,368 tons Heaviest steel truss: 99,000 pounds Lightest truss: 73,000 pounds Southern retaining wall in the side of hill: 35 feet at highest point Northern wall: 60 feet high entirely welded, no bolts Number of subcontractors: 37 Number of workers on site now: More than 100 per day Estimated number of workers by July: 200 per day Special feature: X-braces in case of earthquake
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