The city purchased the PNC Bank building at 210 Main St. in spring of 2024 for $430,000 and is still shy of funds for its renovation.Â
City Manager Gary Whitehead told city commissioners at their March 11 meeting the inside and outside renovation would cost an estimated $1.6 million. Â
The city commission had originally intended to finance the renovation with a $2 million bond, which was to be paid back using the police department’s .25 percent city gross receipts tax. They passed a financing ordinance July 2024, but 257 citizens signed a referendum petition forcing the ordinance to a public vote. After messing with the required state timeline for holding a special election within 90 days of a referendum petition’s certification, that special election was supposed to be held in March 2025. Instead, the city commission voted to cancel, withdraw, un-pass their July 2024 financing ordinance right before the election–they would seek the renovation funds elsewhere.Â
Whitehead ran down the list of funds used and gathered so far. The city asked for about $700,000 in capital outlay during the winter 2025 legislative session and received $375,000, of which $20,000 will be spent on creating an art gallery in what was the bank’s main lobby. Already spent is $200,000 from the city’s general fund and $230,000 from police-department GRT funds to purchase the building.Â
During the March 11 meeting, a grant for $1 million to renovate the .72-acre parking lot and to construct a solar-panelled canopy to shade vehicles and cut down on electricity bills was introduced. It will be a 14,000 square-foot solar installation.Â
The “Solar Access Fund,” administered by the New Mexico Finance Authority, set $1 million as the maximum ask for the grant. The House Bill 128 in 2025 put $20 million in the fund.Â
The city commission approved the grant application unanimously. The grant was due March 5, Whitehead said, and this would ratify the action already taken. Staff learned about the grant too late to get approval beforehand.