County shows interest in El Camino Heritage Center

Socorro County commissioners agreed to draft a resolution requesting the state postpone the demolition of El Camino Heritage Center until local entities can explore alternate uses of the facility.

According to the Department of Cultural Affairs, the heritage center is a $10-million facility located outside San Antonio, which opened in 2005 and closed in 2015, costing approximately $400,000 a year to operate.

“I think the (heritage center) not being right directly in the city would be beneficial to the residents as well as the patients,” Commissioner Danny Monette said at Tuesday’s meeting.

During a presentation on the center, Connie Vigil, a New Mexico Tech graduate with a background in medical research and a health lobbyist for 12 years, told commissioners that she would like to see the El Camino Center repurposed as a juvenile rehab facility.

“Our youth is probably one of the most neglected in the state of New Mexico, from the standpoint that we really don't have facilities to help a young adult who becomes addicted and or involved in a criminal element. And I find that to be very sad,” Vigil said.

She said the building’s extensive, modern facilities and its strategic location, which is easily accessible but remote enough to ensure privacy for residents, would be ideal for a rehab center.

“Can you imagine the Cultural Affairs didn't even reach out to this county or Sierra County to see if they had a purpose for a 220,000 square foot building, and instead, they determined it was too much for liability and voted to demolish it? I feel like there are strong grounds to contest that decision.” Vigil said. “I don't believe they did their due diligence to prevent a million-dollar waste of money to blow up a beautiful building.”

Vigil requested the commission vote to move forward with a resolution—to vote on in a future meeting—to reopen discussion with Cultural Affairs and the county’s behavioral health leadership about potential uses for the building. She said she believed there would be some time before demolition is finalized due to the state’s required bidding process.

A memo sent to the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents by Anne McCudden, Executive Director of New Mexico Historic Sites dated Nov. 4, said the site has been subject to vandalism, pests and environmental conditions that have led to the “exponential decline of the facility” making it no longer safely habitable.

In the memo, a third-party assessment report from July indicates rehabilitation of the facility would be a minimum of $3.465 million, while a quote for demolition indicated an estimated cost of just under $900,000.

In another document from the Administrative Service Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Greg Geisler reported that between 2017 and 2023 letters were sent out to gauge interest in the Camino Real Historic Site Property. Twenty-five state departments, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Indian Affairs, and Health, and18 educational institutions, including New Mexico Tech, received letters.

New Mexico Director of Cultural Affairs Communications Daniel Zillman said in an interview with the Chieftain they have spent seven years considering and exploring other options than demolition of the center.

“We are planning on moving forward with the demolition of the building and returning it to BLM,” Zillman said, ”This is following the authorization from the board of regents, so we are not planning to delay the process or explore other options.”

On Friday, State Rep. Gail Armstrong told the Chieftain she wants counties to have a chance to show interest in the facility before it is demolished. She decided to send a letter out to request the board offer the counties she represents an opportunity to show interest in the facility before the demolition.

“I will of course be supportive of the counties if this is what they want,” Armstrong said.