The former Santa Fe Railway Shops, located in downtown Albuquerque, NM, represent both a unique resource and an unparalleled opportunity for urban revitalization based upon the adaptive re-use of historic structures. These twelve buildings, which constitute an historic village in the heart of Albuquerque, once housed the largest urban industry in New Mexico, employed more people than any other business in Albuquerque, and had more to do with the growth of the City than any other event or enterprise. They range in size from a few hundred square feet to over 150,000 square feet. The materials used in construction vary with the age and intended use of the various buildings. Some are of brick, some wood and others (the largest) are of reinforced concrete and steel. The architecture is both diverse and remarkable, with the largest buildings exhibiting simplified neo-classical temple fronts complete with pediments and columns.

Dating from the very early 1900's through 1921, the buildings tell the story of the growth and evolution of the Santa Fe Railway. During World War II, their role in the war effort was pivotal, as hundreds of thousands of soldiers and vast amounts of war materials, finished and unfinished, moved through Albuquerque in both directions to support America's two front war. It was in these shops that the monstrous steam engines which pulled these cargos were overhauled and repaired in the shortest possible time. About 1912, the Santa Fe Railway approached the City of Albuquerque with their plans to modernize and expand the outmoded A and P locomotive shops which stood between Second Street and the main tracks, and from Hazeldin south to Pacific. The eighteen structures remaining from the locomotive shop complex (1914-24) constitute the largest historic industrial plant in the state.

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