ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – A group of Albuquerque businesses is pushing to establish a sanctioned homeless encampment at the Westside shelter. The Greater Albuquerque Business Alliance met Thursday night to discuss how to move forward once the campers have left Coronado Park.
Mayor Tim Keller announced that the city would close the troubled park near 3rd and I-40 sometime in August, but that the city was still working on what to do next. One possibility, the mayor said, would be to turn the park into a sanctioned camp, but the business alliance says they don’t want the campers back. “Speaking of treatment, the resources to go to them instead of walking on the sidewalks like they do in our neighborhood,” said Connie Vigil, Greater Albuquerque Business Alliance.
The remote refuge west of town, near Double Eagle Airport, requires people to bus in and out. The alliance would prefer to see an expansion of services there. Mayor Keller says other possibilities for Coronado Park include reopening it as a public park or giving it to the fire department for a station expansion.
