Peralta buys building for community center

PERALTA — The town of Peralta took a huge leap forward in its long-standing goal to open a community center.

In July, the town officially purchased a building leadership were eyeing in Bosque Farms to house a community center. The facility, located at 2500 Bosque Farms Blvd., sits on 1.706 acres and is 8,605 square feet.

For years, Peralta planned on building a community center, most likely near their recently-constructed park, but last year the town council decided to change trajectory due to the steep rise in construction costs.

“We thought we would put that on the shelf for a while and go after this building here, which we can do a lot quicker and we’d have something in place for the seniors and for the rest of the community to use pretty quickly,” said Peralta Mayor Bryan Olguin in a previous article.

Town Clerk Kori Taylor said the building, which was previously J&L’s Country Kitchen, was purchased for $860,000 through the town’s general fund. The space contains a break room, a banquet room, another large room, office and storage space and a commercial kitchen, which Taylor and other town officials are especially excited about.

“It’s a wonderful center,” said Taylor. “It has been sitting vacant for 16 years though, so there’s some repairs that we needed to do and we’re getting that done slowly.”

In addition to the purchase cost, Taylor said the town has so far invested $40,000 to equip the inside and for repairs and renovations. They have done several inspections and repairs to bring the space up to date, such as adding fencing, sprinkler system repairs, new ceiling panels, new toilets and more.

Next up, Taylor said some interior and exterior lights need to be replaced and asphalt paving of the parking lot still needs to be completed. To get the commercial kitchen up and running, it needs to be professionally cleaned and inspected by the New Mexico Environmental Department, a process that can take three to four months, she said.

A proposed rental contract has since been drafted, said Taylor, which the town council will be reviewing at the next council meeting on Dec. 10.

“People are excited,” said Taylor of the community center, which the public will be able to rent for events once open. “You can have a wedding reception, a funeral reception, quinceaneras, baby showers … it’s a multi-use center for the community.”

Taylor said the town council has yet to make a final determination as to what will make up the interior of the community center and what needs to be done before it can officially open.

In the meantime, Taylor is pleased to see the space is already becoming an asset to the community as it’s recently come in handy to host school functions, such as Peralta Elementary’s fall carnival and turkey bingo hosted by Valencia High School’s cheer team.

It also served as an important destination for residents who lost power during a winter snow storm in early November. Taylor said they were able to open the community center that day for residents to warm up and use the facilities while enjoying some coffee and cookies.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Taylor when asked how it feels to see the community center become a reality. “Our residents and our community deserve it, and we’re just very thankful that we’re able to bring this to our community.”