UNM’s north golf course hasn’t always been the little nine-hole course familiar to golfers and strollers. Tom Popejoy and James Zimmerman were big golfers. In 1937, Popejoy approved development of recreational facilities.
“The golf course’s original 18 holes began near Central and Girard, crossed Lomas and extended to where the nine holes are now. The course was in full operation in 1950,” Van Dorn Hooker, UNM architect from 1963-1987 said. He added, “President Popejoy asked neighbors to contribute trees and shrubs to the course. He got 1,000 or so.” Hooker continues to write and publish about UNM’s buildings, landscapes and history.
The university’s original plan was to use the golf course as recreational property and expand the campus on it as needed. As UNM updates its master plan, Hooker provides a glimpse at some of UNM’s early planning efforts and their impact today.
In his book, Only in New Mexico: An architectural history of the University of New Mexico: The first century, 1889-1989, Hooker wrote about early campus planning efforts. The regents met in April 1955 to discuss a proposed master plan drawn by Edward Holien. Popejoy said, “We are not rushing into any radical changes, but we would like to have a master plan toward which we can work and let any modifications that are necessary come about.” Among the features already approved at this time by the regents was locating the proposed gymnasium on part of the old “front nine” of the gold course. By this time the course had already been cut to six holes on main campus.
“Campus planners have long said that golf courses are a good way to use land constructively while saving it for future development. The UNM Central and North Campus courses certainly proved the truth of this,” Hooker wrote in his book.
Hooker said that by the time he came to UNM in 1963, Hokona Hall and College of Education facilities had already been built on parts of the “front nine.” “People bought houses thinking the golf course would always be there, but there were no complaints when the campus built on it,” he said.
Hooker said that in the 1970s he thought about putting graduate student housing on the north golf course. “I got the idea from the University of Chicago where they had graduate-only student housing. It made sense to put graduate housing in that area on north campus since law and medical are graduate programs only,” he said.
Hooker wrote, “When the General Development Plan for the campus, prepared by John Carl Warnecke and Associates, was approved by the regents and made public in 1960, it showed the North Campus taken over by the School of Medicine, married and student housing, and an expanded Physical Plant Department. The golf course was obliterated. With the exception of the student housing, the plan has been followed in a general sense with resulting contraction of the golf course.”
Passions have long run high when it comes to the golf course. In 1988, it was burrowing owls. A leak that ran undetected for a long time created a marsh, complete with cattails. “President Peck was interested in turning the Barren Fairways into a driving range where, it happened, a pair of burrowing owls lived,” Hooker said, adding that the neighborhood had a representative on the campus planning committee thereafter.
Roger Lujan, who succeeded Hooker as UNM architect, said that the Federation of University Neighborhoods sends a representative to campus planning committee meetings each month. That individual is not a voting member, he said.
Any plan, Hooker said, that would’ve solved north campus issues, has never been followed. “It created a hodgepodge. There is no plan now,” he said, adding that the Barton Myers plan, adopted in 1996, didn’t answer all the questions either.
Lujan said, “Barton Myers advocated leaving the golf course as open space – a swath starting at the Duck Pond and ending at Indian School Road. But to be fair, at that time the growth of the Health Sciences Center, University Hospital and north campus was grossly underestimated.”
Hooker’s eye isn’t only on the greens. He looks critically at use of main campus space, too. “The university needs to acquire Sigma Chi and use that space for academic buildings, nor should parking structures be placed on valuable academic sites,” he said.
He points to another history lesson. “In the 1960s, Popejoy appointed Sherman Smith as liaison with the City of Albuquerque. UNM needs to restore its town/gown relationships,” he said.
Lujan agrees with Hooker, but added, “Most new campus development that responds to campus growth unilaterally will be viewed as having a negative impact on its surroundings: more people, more cars, etc. UNM is an urban center and as such, attracts thousands of people each day.”
Lujan lives in a neighborhood adjacent to UNM. He chose the area because it is close to an institution of higher learning. “I don’t expect it to be like living in the suburban Northeast Heights. It’s vibrant, exciting and more town/gown-like than any other place in New Mexico. That’s what makes it a great place to live.”
Story by Carolyn Gonzales