The perfect time to see it is on Sat-Sun 2-4pm when you can visit the Joining Hands photograph exhibit.
Info here
The Rio Grande Nature Center State Park is located at the western end of Candelaria Road NW in the Alvarado Gardens Neighborhood. The park is managed by the State Parks Division through a lease with the landowner, the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division. The City manages the adjacent Candelaria Farms and Rio Grande Valley State Park. There is a vast number of public and private partners involved in park operations, education, and research programs.
For the most recent updates and changes to the center's 5 year plan, including information about renovations and building additions, please visit the Rio Grande Nature Center page at
www.emnrd.state.nm.us/PRD/RGNC.htm
Resolution of the Board
Alvarado Gardens Neighborhood Association
November 10, 2009
The Board of the Alvarado Gardens Neighborhood Association (AGNA) met November 10, 2009 to discuss New Mexico State Park’s plans for the construction of an education building at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park (RGNC). All members of the Board were present.
A community-based planning advisory committee should be created as soon as possible. The committee, chaired by the Supervisor of the RGNC, should include representatives from Albuquerque Open Space, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, AGNA, the Friends of the Nature Center, Albuquerque Public Schools, the University of New Mexico’s Museum of Southwestern Biology, Wildlife Rescue, Inc. (operators of the wildlife rehabilitation center at the RGNC), and possibly others in order to represent all major RGNC stakeholders. It should serve an advisory capacity, similar to the committee that existed previously but was disbanded in about 2005.
The advisory committee should be charged with the task of revising the 27-year-old master plan for the Nature Center. Central goals for this effort are to create a common, shared vision for the future of the Nature Center; to balance potentially conflicting goals for the use, management, and development of the Nature Center; and to include meaningful input from all interested parties.
No permanent buildings should be constructed at the Nature Center until revision of the master plan is complete.
In the event that State Parks elects to proceed with construction of an education building without the benefit of a new planning advisory committee and without an updated and revised master plan, the Board of the AGNA resolves the following:
The allowable and unallowable uses of the building must be defined in writing. They must be restricted to the educational mission and current hours of operation. There should be no renting to third parties for special events.
The adjacent property owners should have priority as to mitigating measures (physical and operational).
The size of any new building should be as small as possible in keeping with preservation of the Rio Grande bosque, which is the primary value expressed in the RGNC’s mission statement.
Traffic-calming measures should be funded by the project to offset adverse impacts that are already occurring and will likely worsen with a new building. The State is responsible for funding these measures. At a minimum, the State should install radar speed flashing signs for both directions (east and west bound) on Candelaria Road, between Rio Grande Boulevard and the Nature Center.