Rail Yards Keep Rolling With New Media Mecca
City and CNM turn historic boiler shop into film school, training center
ALBUQUERQUE – A new era begins at Albuquerque’s Rail Yards with the opening of the Media Arts Collective and Central New Mexico Community College’s (CNM) new Film and Digital Media Training Center, the space’s first permanent tenants in 70 years.
Their opening represents a major milestone in the city’s long-term effort to revive the Rail Yards, strengthen its surrounding historic neighborhoods, and create an iconic destination true to Albuquerque.
“For decades people looked at these buildings and imagined what they could become. Now we are actually making it happen,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We took something uniquely Albuquerque, brought it back to life, and opened it up to new generations.”
The Rail Yards helped build Albuquerque. By 1919 the site employed roughly one-quarter of the city’s workforce and served as a center of industry and innovation. Today the boiler shop is once again teaching people new skills, building careers and shaping the city’s future.
The project is part of the city’s broader work to fill the Rail Yards with activity throughout the week, draw people to the area, support nearby businesses, and provide another destination with a strong sense of place.
Renovation of the boiler shop preserved defining elements of the historic structure, including two original cranes once used to move locomotives through the facility. The project received a Heritage Preservation Award from the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division earlier this year.
The city sees the opening as an important step toward a larger vision for the Rail Yards: a landmark for education, commerce, culture, creativity, and community. Once a link that connected Albuquerque to opportunity nationwide, its reach as a film and media resource now holds global potential.