The City Council met on Aug. 1 and reviewed the plans for Finley Gym by NCA Architects. Among other upgrades, the demolition of a portion of the building will create around 15 parking spaces.

Other upgrades will include landscaping of a courtyard and gates for foot traffic flow.

The motion was seconded and passed to move forward with the plans.

In the interim, management of the facility will be handled by Recreation, with a final determination to be made later.

Mayor Ravi Bhasker said, “We want to move ahead and try to keep costs down.”

City Administrator Donald Monette told the council that the end result will be a very public-friendly facility, and that projects need to be prioritized with something to show by the next legislative session in January 2024.

Also at the meeting, the final ICIP list was reviewed. At the top is the police department, with $1 million needed for the new police substation. Also listed: old high school remodel, Sedillo Park improvements, Cuba Road drainage, paving on Lopezville Road, Otero and Skylark, and improvments along Highway 60.

Bhasker also reported that the TDS event on July 29 resulted in more than 1,000 customers getting “registered” for broadband service, which will soon bring fiber internet to Socorro.

Jay Ann Cox, El Defensor Chieftain Editor