The city Public Works Committee recommends demolishing Santa Fe Clay's part of a warehouse in the Santa Fe Railyard after a new tenant and use are approved.

The committee recommendation, which will go to the full City Council, came Monday after a lengthy public hearing.

The nonprofit that runs the city-owned Railyard says no one wants the 41-year-old former beer warehouse as it is, but several have expressed an interest in leasing the land if they can tear down part of the structure and build anew.

The new tenant would have to pay for the demolition plus $50,000 to $55,000 to Santa Fe Clay owner Avra Leodas for improvements she has made to her portion of the building since 2002, the subsidized rent payments for the last two years of Leodas' lease and market-rate rent beyond 2012.

Of the 30 speakers on Monday, 21 favored allowing demolition so Leodas can turn over her lease to another tenant and move her pottery studio off the Railyard. Nine favored retaining the building that Santa Fe Clay shares with El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe as it is.

"The building really doesn't transfer to other types of uses the way it's configured now," said demolition proponent Judy Coady. "This building has no inherit charm or grace or historic value."

Beatrice Vigil said she had also heard the building is still viable and has helped promote creativity. "I do want to go on record that we ... keep the building and fix it so that it can be full and that we can all appreciate it," she said.

Jerry Baca, who owns an insurance firm, said he thinks demolition of that section of the warehouse to allow new construction would benefit the economy. "That side of the Railyard could use a facelift," he said.

Suby Bowden, an architect involved with the original planning of the Railyard more than a decade ago, said the original master plan called for maintaining the "gritty, authentic" nature of the property, rather than "sanitizing" or "perfuming" its character.

Bowden said the state Historic Preservation Office a decade ago called for keeping at least half of the existing structures on the Railyard. Yet new structures already exceed old ones by 15 percent. If Santa Fe Clay's portion of the warehouse is demolished, Bowden said, that number would rise to 25 percent.

At the suggestion of committee chair Patti Bushee, Councilor Chris Calvert moved to table the motion in order to give the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corp. time to explore other options. But that motion died for lack of a second.

Councilor Ronald Trujillo then moved, with a second by Councilor Rosemary Romero, to allow demolition after a new tenant has been found and a plan for building anew has been approved. That passed 2 to 1 with Calvert dissenting.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.