May 8--City leaders have a lot to consider when it comes choosing a name for the building replacing the Sweeney Convention Center. Will they go with function, flair or a combination of the two?

More than 125 Santa Feans weighed in on that question during a public-comment period that ended last week, suggesting names for the facility that remains under construction but has been marketed for a year as the Santa Fe Convention Center.

Three of four names received by the city Convention and Visitors Bureau favored some version of a title that includes the words Santa Fe and Convention Center, while other submissions ran the gamut, according to documents obtained by The New Mexican.

Several residents rallied around "The Santa Fe Unconventional Center," a name that plays off Santa Fe's nickname and reputation as the City Different.

"The world is full of convention centers but there's only one Santa Fe, " wrote Casey St. Charnez. " ... The name has a sense of humor. It should prove cleverly marketable."

Others want to make a connection to the Spanish language. Rita A. McGuire suggested Santa Fe Cielo Convention Center, using the Spanish word for sky because "we live in a city with a glorious blue sky and it is one of the most enchanting parts of being in Santa Fe."

Cultural Santa Fe Central, noted Bernabe Romero, is spelled the same in both English and Spanish. Variations of that idea include Centre de Santa Fe, contributed by native Santa Fean Ted Luna, and La Querencia, which Municipal Judge Ann Yalman says is a bullfighting term and "a safe place, but a challenging one."

Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Leslie Carpenter likes La Tertuila, which she said means "a gathering of close friends," and was the name of a former city restaurant. Several submissions featured variations of del Sol, which means of the sun.

Naming the facility after an ancestor or politician also seems popular. Jill Montoya suggested Juan Martinez de Montoya, who she says founded the city. Elizabeth West likes Manual alvarez, a Spanish trader and diplomat. Pioneer Juana Teresa Sandoval was nominated by Stephen Wassner for representation of spirit and hard work.

Former journalist Jake Arnold suggested The Cutting Center, after New Mexico's Republican U.S. senator and former New Mexican publisher Bronson Murray Cutting.

Mateo Ulibarri, office manager at the New Mexico Film Office, favors Pope Convention Center, after the Ohkay Owingeh leader of the 1680 pueblo revolt in which local American Indians rebelled against Spanish occupation. "This may help bridge the gap that is created between cultures in NM," he wrote.

Nine people asked for a name honoring former Mayor and City Councilor Samuel Pick. Marge Sandoval, a longtime city mayor's assistant, nominated her former boss, Larry A. Delgado, who presided over the decision to build the new facility.

There's also a group that knows people in Santa Fe will still call it the Sweeney Center, which was named after Patrick Sweeney, a 1940s school superintendent who taught and coached there when it was a school. Katherine Forrest suggested a twist: "The New Sweeney Convention Center."

Supporters of the Chamber of Commerce flooded the city with e-mails backing the name the business group has endorsed.

Al Jahner, was among the 95 people who e-mailed in favor of The Santa Fe Convention Center. "Most major cities (sic) meeting facilities that I have been in have 'convention center' in their name. I would hate to see Santa Fe use some 'cute' name that only locals can identify and leave people who are looking for a meeting space in the dark."

Chamber vice president Vic Brenneisen wrote that any other name would lessen the financial success of repaying debt for its construction.

"No political or ethnic names!!!," wrote Mallory White, branch manager of White & Luff Financial Inc. "We are a diverse communitey (sic) and the only fair name is the straight forward and simple one."

All the suggested names will be presented to the Business and Quality of Life Committee on May 21, the Occupancy Tax Advisory Board on May 29 and Public Works Committee on June 9.

Each committee will recommend a first, second and third choice and those recommendations, along with a copy of all submissions, will move to the City Council at its regularly scheduled meeting June 11, according to a city announcement. The governing board has final say on the name.

The city has already selected names for the rooms inside the center, including one named for Sweeney and those named for several area pueblos.

The building and its underground parking garage are set to open by early fall, and city committees will begin reviewing submissions later this month. Some advisory boards offered opinions on the name earlier this year, but City Councilors made the process broader in March.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.

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