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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Panel: Make Power Box Smaller
By Mark Oswald
Of the Journal
That big, non-historic electrical box on the Santa Fe Plaza apparently isn't going underground or anywhere else anytime soon.
But it may be reduced in size and painted green, judging from advice members of the City Council's Public Works Committee gave to city staffers Monday evening.
The electrical panel, now 7 feet tall and silver, has caused consternation among historic preservationists and others since city staffers had it installed about a year ago to improve the power supply for Plaza events.
Councilors at Monday night's committee meeting endorsed as an interim solution an idea that Chip Lilienthal, the city Facilities Division project manager, said was supported by the state Historic Preservation Office because of the lack of money these days for other options. That plan calls for reducing the size of the electrical panel to 4 feet by 4 feet, and 2 feet wide, and painting it green, the same color as an adjacent transformer.
That would cost cash-strapped city government an estimated $75,000, but that's far less than other ideas that have been considered. Lilienthal reported that putting the box under the Plaza stage would cost about $433,000 and burying it somewhere else would cost $331,000.
Councilor Ron Trujillo said that there are better uses for city money right now. "I say put a coyote fence around it," he said. "You want it to look Santa Fe, that's Santa Fe." Councilor Chris Calvert said he didn't think the Historic Preservation Office would approve the coyote fence idea.
Councilors agreed that the city doesn't have the money for more expensive alternatives now and that putting the box under the stage seemed risky.
Councilor Miguel Chavez said that at some point people are going to have to accept the electrical box "for what it is, and move on."
As for how long reducing the profile of the box and trying to camouflage it could last as a temporary fix, Calvert said it "could be an interim solution, and it could be interim for a while."
One intriguing possibility mentioned during Monday night's discussion was putting the electrical panel in one of some old tunnels that exist under downtown Santa Fe. Lilienthal told councilors he'd have to see what was down there before reporting on the viability of that option.
Lilienthal said reducing the size of the panel would have to wait until after Fiesta in September and would require a two-week shutdown of the Plaza's electrical system.
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