Downtown Albuquerque News reported this morning about UNM and New Mexico PBS looking at building a new facility. Among the options they are considering is to have it be built in Downtown Albuquerque. The state legislature has already appropriated money to begin planning for the endeavor. However, the outgoing head of New Mexico PBS insists that the project isn't a sure thing and they may not even move at all. Their existing facility is in the UNM North Campus area along University Boulevard and was built in 1968.
https://downtownalbuquerquenews.com/
Quote:
NMPBS to vet Downtown as part of 'relocation plan'
New Mexico PBS, which operates five TV channels out of studios on University Boulevard near Lomas, has in recent months begun a planning process that could eventually see the station move to the Downtown area.
Having received a grant of $425,000 from the state legislature during last year's session for a "relocation plan," the station issued a request for proposals last September, on the hunt for a consultant who could "prepare a comprehensive implementation plan for the future of KNME/New Mexico PBS."
Options include renovating, expanding, or replacing its current building, the documents said. The now-selected consultant, Sam Sterling Architecture, is also to be charged with identifying and analyzing up to three alternative new locations, "including sites in proximity to UNM's main campus and potential Downtown locations."
But Franz Joachim, the outgoing general manager and CEO, appeared to throw cold water on the general idea as spelled out by the legislature and in the RFP documents.
"We have just begun that process," he told DAN. "We have had one introductory meeting. No locations or even a need for alternative locations has been discussed. Any suggestion that we are moving or need to move is pure rumor and speculation."
Joachim did not give a timeline for the project except to say that "more details about the results of the planning process will be provided when appropriate." His successor, Phil Hoffman, is the general manager of Ball State PBS and Indiana Public Radio. He is slated to take over the job on April 1.
The current NMPBS facility opened in 1968, though staffers also began working out of an adjacent annex building in 1984. Besides the flagship PBS stream, the station also broadcasts channels called World, Create, First Nations Experience, and PBS Kids.
NMPBS, which operates under the call letters KNME, is a joint project of UNM and APS. The station's planning project comes at a time when UNM is negotiating with the city and Downtown property owners about moving components of the university to the core (DAN, 11/17/25).
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I've known about this potential project since last year when I was searching for information about the new Humanities and Social Sciences structure. I stumbled across UNM's RFP portal where they issued the request for a consultant to begin looking at the project. The possibility that they would build a new facility in Downtown Albuquerque is new information to me and something that didn't even cross my mind. I figured they would just build a new facility in the same general area where it is currently located. There's certainly plenty of land and empty plots in that area. But this would be great to have Downtown!
We need more of this kind of consideration and focus on doing these projects in Downtown Albuquerque, especially by our public entities where we really can make these things happen. It needs to be Downtown first, as far as I'm concerned. That's the only way we will change anything, not just Downtown but for the entire city and its trajectory and prosperity, which I've expounded on many times before and won't bore you all with again. Suffice it to say we need a focus, strong heart and great face for our city to succeed going forward!
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