The making of a community center   

A hand-built sanctuary sits just outside of Silver City.

Melanie Zipin, along with her family, renovated the Whiskey Creek Zócalo from an abandoned school house to become one of the hearts of the Silver City community. It is now a bar, restaurant and music venue. It also reflects Zipin's hard work and dedication and the combined interests of her and her family.

“We wanted more in our neighborhood,” Zipin said. “We felt there needed to be a lot more places, more mom and pop shops that you could go to or little cafés or restaurants when you’re driving around. We felt like there was a lack of something like that in our city.”

The space, which would one day become of the Whiskey Creek Zócalo, started out unrecognizable. After retiring as a school house, the building remained relatively untouched until it was bought by Zipin, who had a mission to create a center for community building.

It took around three years for the family to open Whiskey Creek Zócalo to the public. In that time, Zipin brought on her husband, Jeff LeBlanc, and her son, Rafael Vigilantics, to help bring the place to life.

“You never know if what you’re doing is going to be something people want to participate in,” Zipin said. “It’s always risky, but we felt like we wanted to do something we loved, and so we did almost everything from scratch.”

Zipin explained the Zócalo was built around the family and their interests whether it be plants, music, or building. She explained she wanted the establishment to be a place where people could sit down and connect with those around them over shared interests and activities. Vigilantics talked about Zócalo as a place for community.    

“Without a place to go and meet other artists and meet members of the community, I think we just become more solitary and we forget how much music and gathering matters,” Vigilantics said. “We lose touch with each other.”

The first interest of Zipin and her family that took root was gardening. So they made way for a native plant nursery. The nursery mainly focuses on flora native to southern New Mexico, demonstrating the natural beauty the land has to offer.

Since its creation, the nursery has only continued to grow and flourish. Not only has it become a place where people can admire the beauty of local nature, but Whiskey Creek Zócalo also tries to further native plant plant knowledge with workshops.

However, the nursery was far from the end of Zipin’s vision. The family only continued to build off what the three created.

More of their interests began to show in the Zócalo, with each family member often creating their own side projects. Vigilantics described a time when he took on the project of one room by himself, eventually creating one of the lounging areas.

“I turned the front room into kind of a speakeasy,” Vigilantics said. “Like a poetry and art gallery, it’s called the lodge room. During that time, I kind of just built a wall and wouldn’t let anyone in until I was finished. I just secluded myself in that room for about a month or so until we finished decorating and making, then opened it up.”

Vigilantics mentioned how in almost every corner of Whiskey Creek Zócalo, little details can be found which were momentary personal additions during the building process. Each of the family members took their personal skill set and created unique features to add to Zócalo’s charm.

A shared interest amongst the family is music, which influenced the large music scene Whiskey Creek Zócalo attracted. Music became a main attraction, with the family business hosting live music for the entire community to gather around.

In fact, Zipin mentioned the family's reach has not stopped at the city limits of Silver City. The more music and community events Whiskey Creek Zócalo hosts, more people have felt compelled to travel to the area, specifically for Zócalo, she said.

Today Whiskey Creek Zócalo continues to grow and expand with seemingly no signs of stopping. Events are hosted multiple times every week, which includes a line up of various live music events.

Looking to the future, Zipin said she wants to continue to grow what she has. To have more musicians come in from across the country. She also wants to continue hosting artistic events, whether it be poetry nights, art galleries or workshops.

“To create this together as a family has been such a gift,” Zipin said. “Also, our community has really been supportive and that has also been an incredible gift, that the people in the community come here and want to hang out here and want to participate in what we’re doing. That has felt really special and gratifying.”