Santa Fe Indian School spokesman Gil Vigil has been unreachable for comment when it comes to potential plans for the campus' bulldozed acreage along Cerrillos Road.

But a woman who met with Vigil in August said he was more than candid with her just before a demolition crew razed numerous turn-of-the-century buildings, including some that contained New Deal-era murals.

Vigil told her of potential plans to build a casino, hotel, museum and retail shops on the property. He later softened his casino talk, she said. Federal law prohibits gaming on the campus property.

Recalling her exchanges, Kathryn Flynn, executive director of the National New Deal Preservation Association, said in a Tuesday interview that she initially phoned Vigil last summer hoping to bring in a tour bus of people interested in seeing the murals.

"(Vigil) said there won't be anything for you to see when you come, so you might as well not come," Flynn said. Vigil told her the buildings would be razed because they contained asbestos.

Flynn was flabbergasted, she said. Her main concern was the murals.

"Then I asked, 'What are you going to do with that space after mowing everything down?' and he said, 'Well, we'll probably build a casino.' And I said, 'You're going to do what? You got to be kidding me.' He said, 'Well, we're talking about it.'

"I said, 'Do you realize what that would do to Cerrillos Road?' and he said, 'That's not our problem. That's the city's.' "

Four days later, Vigil asked Flynn if he could come to her office in Santa Fe. "I said, 'Sure, when do want to do this?' and he said, 'Right now.' "

Vigil arrived six minutes later, she said. "Basically, he was telling me not to tell anybody," she said. "I think he said something to someone, and they said you better go shut that broad up."

They visited for a while, and Flynn readdressed the casino talk. "I said, 'You were pulling my leg on that casino stuff, weren't you?' and he said, 'Probably a little bit.' "

Vigil said he was concerned about the state Historic Preservation Division — which could have a say on development if it involves public money — learning about their initial conversation, Flynn said, and she told him people at the division already knew.

Vigil couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.

Flynn said the All Indian Pueblo Council, which controls the school, has been looking for ways to make up for the school's decrease in federal funding.

The Santa Fe Indian School Act, which conveyed the campus property to the pueblo council in 2000, restricts what can be done with the property. It prohibits building a casino and says, "The land taken into trust ... shall be solely for the education, health, or cultural purposes of the Santa Fe Indian School."

State Historic Preservation Officer Katherine Slick suggested in an interview this week that the phrasing could allow for flexibility when it comes to commercial development.

Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com.