CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Report

CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Report Left to Right: Main Street Las Vegas before sunset. Birdseye view of the Gallinas River. Figure from local artist, Ras Zakarias’ mural “Fresh Water.” MEMORANDUM TO: Jennifer Hughes, Design and Creative Placemaking Director, NEA & Courtney Spearman, Design Specialist, NEA FROM: CIRD Program Staff DATE: February 2019 RE: Workshop Summary Las Vegas, New Mexico – October 9-11, 2018 We are pleased to provide you with this summary of key workshop outcomes and an evaluation of the CIRD workshop planning process, as considered by members of the resource team, workshop coordi- nators, and CIRD staff. CIRD – Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop – Final Report 1 CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Final Report TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction 3 II. Workshop Highlights 4 A. Opening Night: Collective Memory 4 B. Ideas, New & Old: Querencía & Creativity 5 C. Designing and Organizing: Equipped for Action 6 III. Key Themes, Takeaways, and Findings 8 A. Workshop Themes 8 B. The Las Vegas Community Vision for the Gallinas River Park 8 IV. The Gallinas River Park Master Plan 9 A. Developing the Park Design Concept 9 B. The Master Plan 10 V. Implementation 12 A. Short Term: Prioritized Action Plan 12 B. Post-Workshop Updates & Actions 12 C. HPWA Project Projections 13 D. Keeping People Engaged and Building Broader Support 13 VI. Evaluation of Workshop 14 VII. Appendices 15 A. HPWA Project Background 16 B. RTM Bios 22 C. Symposium Guest Speakers 25 D. Workshop Participant List 27 E. Workshop Agenda 29 F. Promotional Materials 32 G. Master Plan 33 H. HPWA Complete Action Plan & Matrix 38 I. Partner Organizations to Engage 43 J. Workshop Evaluations 44 CIRD – Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop – Final Report 2 CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Final Report I. Workshop Introduction The Hermit’s Peak Watershed Alliance – in partnership with the City of Las Vegas, Mainstreet de Las Vegas, and West Las Vegas City Schools – hosted the Las Vegas, New Mexico Citizen’s Institute on Rural Design Workshop at the Plaza Hotel and Our Lady of Sor- rows Parish Hall on October 10-13, 2018. The workshop convened local residents and stakeholders to develop a conceptual design for the Gallinas River Park. The CIRD Resource Team Members utilized the community’s input to establish a park design that showcases the river as a place of celebration for the diversity of the Las Vegas community, and will nurture the relationship between the river and its people for years to come. Las Vegas community members select their building materials to design their “Ideal River Park” The Gallinas River is a narrow channel that runs through the center of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Since the town’s earliest settlement, the river has been as source of life and livelihood for its residents. With the arrival of the Anglo-settlers during the late 19th century, the river, a symbol of life, came to repre- sent a deep divide: a border between the east- and west-side of town – a partition between the Anglo and Hispanic cultures inhabiting Las Vegas. The HPWA has identified the Gallinas River as a neglected, under-appreciated, and yet invaluable natural resource of the Las Vegas community that ought to be celebrated as a cultural unifier for the town. The goals of the workshop were: • Engage and connect local residents to their neigh- bors through creative strategies to develop a comprehensive community vision for the Gallinas River Park; • Create a professionally drafted design plan for the future river park based upon the community’s vision, shared values, and articulated wants and needs; • Generate a series of actionable next steps for community members to take part and participate in the transformation and development of this space into the community hub they envisioned and to see the project through to its completion. Sinage for the Gallinas River off Highway 85. CIRD – Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop – Final Report 3 CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Final Report CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Final Report I. Workshop Highlights: Memory, Ideas, Action The two-and-a-half day workshop engaged participants in discussions, brainstorms, site tours, and collaborative design and visioning sessions. Workshop participants heard from local experts on a comprehensive range of subjects (local entrepre- neurship, health & wellness, native botany, etc…), and were guided through the tenants of placemaking, the brainstorming actionable next steps, and togeth- er with their fellow participants created a conceptual design for the river park with the help of the CIRD Resource Team Members. A. Opening Night: Collective Memory The first evening of the workshop took place at the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish Hall. Las Vegas residents were welcomed with a serving of Frito Pies – a bowl of chili topped with frito chips, lettuce, tomato, and onion – and warm words from our HPWA Hosts and lead Resource Team Member (RTM), Elise Cormier. “We are here to be professional listeners,” Elise stated in her introduction and she and the RTMs stayed true to that priority throughout the workshop, beginning with James Rojas’ PlaceIt! activities. James Rojas’ joyous PlaceIt! exercises, “Build Your Favorite Childhood Memory” and “Build your Ide- al Park,” set the tone for the Las Vegas workshop. These exercises, which tapped into people’s inner child, through memory and creative play, encour- aged an environment of openness, communality, and trust amongst a group of people with a cultural history of division. The opportunity to share revealed a community with a sense of place grounded in nature. In fact, according to Rojas, it was the first time he experienced a community in which every participant reported their favorite childhood memory as taking place in the outdoors. This common shared identification with nature and more specifically the Gallinas River, solidified the notion that the health of the community and the health of the river, are one. Thereby qualifying and clarifying the importance of community unification around the river as the purpose of the Las Vegas Workshop. Beyond simply accessing into the emotional and personal nature of the project for the workshop attendees, the PlaceIt! exercises enabled the com- Top to bottom: PlaceIt materials ready for Las Vegas community to realize and activate their expert voices and munity members inspired river park designs, an example of which is shown on the right. Participants describe their river their role as planners: equipped to implement their design, detailing the cultural importance of maintaining the community vision. local asequia. A multi-generational group of community members stands in front of their Place IT! design for “Their Ideal River.” CIRD – Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop – Final Report 4 CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Final Report B. Ideas, New & Old: Querencía & Creativity Day two of the workshop included community tours along the riverfront, feedback sessions, an introduction to the Basics of Placemaking, local connec- tivity mapping, and culminated with a Happy Hour Symposium that featured ten talks by locals, sharing their own unique expertise and perspectives as they related to the goals of the river restoration project. Day two was a day of idea generation and creativity. The second day of the Las Vegas Workshop began with group walking tours along different segments of the riverfront. This on-site feedback session was a great opportunity to listen to the Las Vegas residents’ ideas concerning what it is they love about their town, as well as what it is they want to enhance, change, and celebrate about the character of Las Vegas through the riverfront restoration project. It was powerful to witness the people of the Las Vegas community exercising and realizing the importance of their voice in articulating a future design concept for the area. Particularly notable during the morning riverwalk was the participation of a group of local high school students. The students arrived, armed with their ideas, concerns, perspectives, and trash bags as present and future stewards of the river, to offer their vision for the future of the park. Not only did the group provide an invaluable perspective to the conversa- tion, but also they demonstrated the sense of civic responsibility and consciousness of younger members of the Las Vegas community that will be re- quired in order for this project to have a living future. The evening symposium of local community experts brought an added layer of richness to the Gallinas River project. The symposium featured ten local speakers (including local business owners, health professionals, professors of ecology, language and culture, and art), presenting on topics related to the central themes of the river project: health of the river and health of the community. Among the wide range of important topics cov- ered in the symposium presentations, we learned the term ‘Querencía’ – a Spanish term meaning, place identity and a sense of place-based purpose Top to Bottom: Workshop participants gather on a bridge across the Gallinas during the morning site-tour. Image of the – and through poetry came to better understand Asequîa Madre, the “Mother Ditch,” supplying generations of the socio-cultural and historical importance of the Las Vegas residents with an irrigation source. RTM, Amy Bell, regional Land Grant to the early people of Las Vegas; stops to notate community feedback along the site tour on enabling past generations to sustain life, families, and Friday morning. Guest speakers, Eric Romero & Sara Matthews share their expertise with the community. community. CIRD – Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop – Final Report 5 CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Final Report CIRD Las Vegas, New Mexico Workshop Final Report C. Designing and Organizing: Equipped for Action The final day of the workshop took the community’s ideas and put them into action.

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