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The $73 million film training center taking shape inside Albuquerque’s historic Rail Yards Boiler Shop will open several months later than first promised. When it opens in September, it is expected to be one of the most advanced film training facilities in the country and could be a game-changer for New Mexico’s creative workforce.
Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) announced in February 2024 that construction would wrap up in “late 2025,” with classes starting in January. The college now expects the project to be finished in late June, with the first semester of classes beginning in September.
“When we originally got to the site and started doing some demolition work and starting the work for foundations, we discovered a lot of things that we had to reassess, which cost us time,” said Adriana Casas, CNM’s facilities project manager.
The $73 million project represents a three-way partnership between CNM, the city of Albuquerque, and the state of New Mexico Economic Development Department. The state originally allocated $63 million for the project and provided an additional $10 million when construction challenges emerged.
The Hidden Problems
Repurposing the historic Boiler Shop took far more than a fresh coat of paint. Crews rebuilt much of the steel and glass structure, then ran into surprises while digging into the 100-year-old foundation.
The building, once used to move heavy parts onto train engines, hid problems beneath its concrete floors. Those discoveries forced engineering changes, pushed back the timeline and led the state legislature to add $10 million to the project.
“The hidden conditions as we’re doing the construction of the demolition is really what caused the delay,” said Marvin Martinez, CNM’s executive director of physical plant. “We opened up the concrete floor to do plumbing, and there were things underground. The floors weren’t as thick, or they were too thick, or different things that we had to adjust to.”
The findings required new structural reviews for the century-old building, according to Martinez, stretching both the schedule and the budget. CNM returned to the legislature for additional funding, raising the total projected cost to $73 million from the original $63 million. That figure includes engineering, architectural design, furniture and equipment, testing and construction.
Despite the setbacks, the project is moving into its final phase. Crews have finished restoring the exterior, including window replacements and steel rehabilitation. Interior buildings are now enclosed, with teams installing electrical systems and finishing work like flooring and tile.
“We’re really getting to the finalization of the project,” Casas said.
Training for Tomorrow’s Silver Screen
The facility will transform CNM’s 21-year-old film program into an all-encompassing media production training center focused on emerging technologies.
When it opens this fall, the facility will house CNM’s existing film and media programs, including Digital Media and Film Production, both Associate of Applied Science degrees; Film, an Associate of Arts; and the Film Crew Technician and Post-Production Technician certificate programs.
Within the first year, CNM plans to move its 12-week Deep Dive Digital Media Bootcamp to the Rail Yards and is exploring new programs in live TV production, live TV audio production, advanced post-production, audio engineering, color editing and film fabrication and design.
Years two and three could bring training in multimedia and emerging technologies, music recording, live music engineering, performance-based sound effects, voiceover and engineering, video game design, artificial intelligence (AI) filmmaking and costume design.
The building allows the college to move well beyond traditional filmmaking into post-production audio and color grading, live audio engineering, live TV production, music recording, voiceover acting, costume design and construction, woodworking and fabrication, AI filmmaking, video game design and virtual and augmented reality, said Alan Trever, academic affairs director for CNM’s film and digital media program.
The expanded focus reflects a shift away from training only film technicians and toward preparing students for where the industry is headed over the next two decades.
The crown jewel: a Dolby-certified 22.7.12 speaker system that Trever said will make CNM “the only educational audio engineering facility” with that level of equipment outside Los Angeles and possibly Dallas.
“It will be the only facility that has the equipment on site to be able to train people at the highest, highest, highest level of audio and technical engineering for film and media production,” Trever said.
Hub for Media Excellence
CNM’s film program has trained silver-screen technicians for New Mexico’s growing film industry since 2003. It currently enrolls about 250 students and is expected to grow to 300 to 320 in the first semester at the new facility.
Trever said interest is already strong. High school students have toured the building, and some current students are holding off on production classes so they can take them in the new space.
As a community college, CNM operates on open enrollment, making film and digital media training accessible to anyone. The college has also updated its curriculum to align with four-year institutions, including the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, Eastern New Mexico University and Highlands University, easing credit transfers for students pursuing bachelor’s degrees.
CNM has established partnerships with major studios and production companies, including Netflix, NBCUniversal, Cinelease, Vault Studios, Triple Tone, ADQ Post and Half Life Digital. Trever said many students already earn paid internships through these connections. By working with industry leaders and Local 480, the film union, CNM gives its 300-plus students a direct pipeline to high-paying jobs in New Mexico’s film industry.
The facility is designed to allow students to move seamlessly from the classroom to professional sets through internships and apprenticeships. It will also house the New Mexico Media Arts Collective, a state-backed training initiative that will run programs alongside CNM’s offerings. Trever said the MAC’s presence will give students more opportunities to move from the classroom to the workforce.
“It’s going to allow us to expand those opportunities, allowing our students to be able to go from the classroom to the workforce really simply, really easily,” he said.
In addition to degree programs, CNM plans to offer shorter non-credit workshops — what Trever called “weekend warrior workshops” — in specialized areas like audio engineering and fabrication.
Cultural Impact
The expansion comes as New Mexico’s film industry faces a challenging period. In fiscal year 2025, film and television productions generated $323 million in direct spending statewide, down sharply from $740 million the previous year due to industry-wide strikes and a global production slowdown. Despite the drop, the industry still supports about 8,400 jobs, with median wages of $35 per hour — well above the state’s $20 per hour median across all industries, according to the New Mexico Film Office.
Even amid industry challenges, New Mexico cities dominated MovieMaker Magazine’s 2025 best places to live and work as a movie maker rankings. Albuquerque was named the No. 1 “Best Large City for Film,” marking its seventh consecutive year, while Santa Fe ranked No. #2 and Las Cruces took #3 in the small city category. Major studios continue to invest in Albuquerque, with Netflix, Cinelease Studios, Hanover Studios and Journal Studios all offering certified production space.
The industry has shifted from serving mostly as a filming location to building a homegrown creative ecosystem. Trever said the Rail Yards facility is designed to train the next generation of New Mexico creatives who can work on major studio productions and tell their own stories.
“We’re really allowing this to be the center of excellence in film and digital media,” Trever said. He added the program has already drawn interest from local industry leaders eager to partner with students. “They’re just like, ‘finally, somebody’s doing something to really provide the level of education New Mexico needs for this,’” he said.
