Aztec Development Gets Grant Funding

The downtown revitalization effort in Aztec is getting a boost thanks to a grant from the Lowe's Hometown Foundation. You're watching "The Local NEWS Network," brought to you by Home2 Suites and Traegers Bar. I'm Connor Shreve. In just a few weeks, the backyard space at the newly-opened historic Leanor Hotel will be ready to host anything from casual gatherings to live music performances. Leanor owner Robin Kelly says her mission in operating the event space and Airbnb is to serve the community.

The projects that we're starting working on now is working with the Aztec High School to have tailgate parties here prior to the games so that everybody gets a good meal and everybody can kind of hang out and we can build community and build relationships between Nueva Vista and Aztec High School and, of course, the Farmington schools, , Kirtland, Shiprock. Everyone is welcome to come and hang out here.

Kelly is using a $35,000 grant from Lowe's Hometowns to transform the historic building's backyard into a place to host gatherings. It's the icing on what has been a two-year renovation of the 118-year-old building. Aztec community development director Andrew Dicamillo is amazed watching the building come back from the dead.

Her taking this on not only, you know, brought us back a viable historic building for people to come and utilize with her petite hotel and the event space, but I think it got a lot of these other folks around that own these buildings and maybe some of the investor interests a little more excited about what we're doing.

Kelly plans to host social and school-specific events for students starting next month and says this is about more than just beautifying the yard.

To find a inclusive space, safe space for local area high school students that are underserved in this area, they don't have anywhere to hang out, and so we're trying to create a backyard space so that they can go in and they can grow some herbs and some flowers and stuff to help with the Airbnb, which we have upstairs. And they're also helping me manage the Airbnb.

Officials like Dicamillo hope this is just the beginning when it comes to Aztec's efforts to revitalize historic Main Street.

But being downtown on Main Street, it beautifies this whole area, and it's right in line with an effort that we've taken on since I've come on in this position almost over a year ago to specifically revitalize downtown. And so, you know, her project with this and the building just adds to that.

Kelly and her partners are focused on providing the area's underserved teens a place to gather and grow and she believes that's why she was just one of 100 grants gifted by Lowe's Hometowns.

Aztec is trying to make itself more attractive for outdoor activities and they are real supportive of small towns' economies and kids. They want to support kids and create space for them and that was probably the major driver for Lowe's.

Dicamillo hopes the effort can be a bellwether for Aztec's latest push to transform Main Street. Just this week, Aztec is making a major push to secure a Main Street designation from the National Historic Trust. He credits the city's elected officials for trying to push Aztec into a new era.

We've got three subdivisions that have kind of had kicks and starts over the last 20 years, but they're all back online and selling lots and building houses. We've got over a dozen homes in Aztec that are under construction right now.

He hopes that momentum spills into Main Street where 10 of 25 buildings are currently vacant. If The Leanor is any indication, those spaces provide plenty of promise. Learn more about this story and others online at farmingtonlocal.news. Thanks for watching this edition of "The Local NEWS Network." I'm Connor Shreve.