H&LA is pleased to be working on this project with the City of Santa Fe to determine the feasibility of a new amphitheater, as the city considers the possibility of making Santa Fe a destination for live performances.
Published by: The Santa Fe New Mexican
Published date: December 2024
Whether Santa Fe ends up building a new amphitheater, the fact that the city and county are studying the possibility together is encouraging.
More cooperation — among cities, counties, school districts and other entities that receive taxpayer dollars — is key to wise spending. In the case of an amphitheater, residents of both the city and county would benefit from a space to hear music or watch theater. Cooperation is the best way forward.
For some 40 years, Santa Fe was fortunate to have a singular venue to draw in touring acts — Paolo Soleri Amphitheater on the grounds of Santa Fe Indian School. The facility attracted some of the best in the music business, including Carlos Santana, Leonard Cohen, Lucinda Williams, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Compay Segundo and so many more. Its closure almost 15 years ago has left a void, even as Santa Fe’s music scene grows.
Toward that end, Hotel & Leisure Advisors, a hospitality consulting firm, is putting together a feasibility study on the idea of constructing a new amphitheater. Along with the study, there’s an online survey to gauge public interest. The initiative is being paid for by a Destination Forward grant from the New Mexico Department of Tourism. It will be released in early January, along with the survey. One big question to answer — is Paolo Soleri completely out of the question?
Questions go beyond attempting to measure interest only in an outdoor music venue. The survey also is seeking to determine if Santa Fe needs additional performing space for theater groups and others. Judging from what has been a miniexplosion in the theater scene over the last few years, we would say the need is definitely there.
A year ago, Tri-M Productions Executive Director Cris Barnes had this to say in a letter (“Santa Fe needs more spaces for theater,” Letters to the Editor, Nov. 20, 2023): “Santa Fe needs more 150- to 200-seat theaters where shows needing weeks of time in them can be performed rather than events that occur over just one or two nights.” The company has revived musical theater as a regular feature in Santa Fe, with a rousing rendition of the classic, Oklahoma! performed just last month.
Whether the demand for rehearsal and performance space can be met by a refurbished Greer Garson Theatre, promised as part of renovations at the midtown campus, is something study conductors will have to consider. The James A. Little Theater, on the campus of the New Mexico School for the Deaf, is undergoing renovations and isn’t scheduled to be open for use again until sometime in 2026. Currently, though, companies preparing for a show have few choices — it’s not just about performance nights, but the weeks of rehearsal necessary to stage productions. How much space does Santa Fe need, whether for touring shows or for independent theater groups? That’s what the study can determine, along with cost of a facility and ways to finance such an endeavor.
There’s also a need to measure what it means to a city to be a destination, not just for tourists from around the nation or world, but for New Mexicans driving or taking the train to see a show in Santa Fe. Placing a new amphitheater on the Rail Runner train line would ensure people could get to and from the venue without traffic jams so familiar in other concert venues in New Mexico.
Jamie Lenfestey, director at Lensic 360 — which produces concerts and events across New Mexico — posted this on Facebook about the effort: “Santa Fe has long missed out on the very special identity we held as THE epicenter of summer concerts in New Mexico that we had in the heyday of the Paolo Soleri.”
He added in a comment on a newspaper story (“Time to amp it up again?” Dec. 6) about the proposal that, “As director of Lensic 360 I have seen Santa Fe’s music scene grow enormously over these past few years and the time is right for this next phase; Santa Fe deserves a world-class, open air summer venue.”
Could an amphitheater bring back that special identity? Let’s see what the study says about costs, financing and interest in attending concerts, plays and shows. Working together, the city and county could put Santa Fe back on the map as a destination for live performances once again. And working together, on this and many other challenges facing the area, is how it should be.
