Russell: Enough already; build courthouse

Inez Russell |

3/30/2008 - 3/30/08

This fuss over the proposed downtown courthouse — I hope — is drawing to a close.

The self-appointed guardians of Santa Fe style, of Santa Fe history — of Santa Fe, period — don't want the building to be too tall. They don't want it to intrude too much on the streetscape. They don't like the parking arrangements.

And on, and on, and on.

Let's agree on this. No one wants an undistinguished, ugly government building blocking the sky. Still, we citizens also should be glad — thrilled, even — to see an important structure such as a courthouse remain downtown.

A courthouse brings with it dozens of employees who otherwise would have little reason to come downtown except for Fiesta or Indian Market. These workers eat lunch, shop and bring a touch of ordinary Santa Fe with them to our faux downtown. A courthouse is an economic-development machine, one that springs to life every workday all year-round. No wonder Española would like to snatch it away.

A courthouse should be a significant building, the public evidence of our faith in the justice system and our desire for beauty even in the middle of hard work and tough cases.

It needs to be big enough, tall enough, grand enough so that it can do the work of justice properly. A courthouse should be taller than other buildings. It's a lot more important than most.

Santa Fe's county commissioners have spent many hours and hard-earned tax dollars in giving citizens a say in what the courthouse should look like. That's as it should be.

Hold fast, county commission. You were right to locate the courthouse downtown. You were right to listen to input. Now, be strong and build the best — albeit tall — building to do the people's work.

It's unclear to me whether the county legally has to abide by the city's historic ordinances. Deciding that issue might take lawyers, plenty of dollars and possibly, a protracted court battle. Rather than fight that battle, the county might be better off to take its finally approved plans — as a courtesy — through the usual hoops. A zoning process might take less time than a court battle, and this project is already long overdue.

We have to remember, as we fight over the courthouse, that today is tomorrow's history. We must be fluid, adapting to what today's citizens need while preserving the best of our past for future generations.

It bears repeating that had our current historical standards been in place over Santa Fe's lifetime, we wouldn't have a Loretto Chapel, a Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, a pink Masonic temple, or any of the other, wonderful, nonconforming buildings that add sparkle to downtown.

Much of what makes Santa Fe beloved and unique, in other words, wouldn't be here. Instead, downtown would be awash in a sea of flat-roofed, brown-walled anonymous structures.

A desire for historic exactitude — especially one that was never so simple or authentic — shouldn't dictate the look and feel of every new Santa Fe building. We can't allow downtown to become (to stay?) a living historical exhibit, with brown and red people trucked in daily to add color to the scene.

Real work — the work of justice and government — sometimes takes place in large structures. We can adapt those buildings to our needs, maintain our integrity and still keep Santa Fe's downtown useful for those of us who live and work here. This back-and-forth process during the planning, while occasionally tedious, is proof of a working democracy in town. That's all to the good.

Our downtown needs this shot in the arm so we can keep our center as a place that stays true to its roots while adapting to what the people — our town's true historical treasures — need to conduct life and business.

If we cling to a too-restrictive version of what's historic, Santa Fe will resemble nothing so much as a beautiful woman with a Botox-ed forehead. We'll be pretty to look at, but don't expect to find any character in our face.

Inez Russell can be reached at inezrussell@msn.com.