Locals reflect on vote to demolish Camino Real Heritage Center

In early December, the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents unanimously voted to demolish the closed Camino Real Heritage Center south of Socorro. 

Paul Harden, a historian and early advocate for the center, and Kay Krehbiel, current president of the Friends of El Camino Real, both emphasized that community volunteers were central to the center’s success during its years of operation.

The Center was officially open and dedicated in 2005, after several years of planning and construction. Harden said he was involved from the beginning, documenting the site’s construction and later helping organize educational programming and public events.

“What really kept that place going wasn’t the Department of Cultural Affairs,” Harden said. “It was the Friends group — mostly people from Socorro — who organized activities and brought people out there.”

Krehbiel said she joined as a volunteer around 2010 and later became president of the Friends group, a position she has held for more than a decade. Volunteers ran the bookstore and gift shop, helped staff events and supported outreach efforts, she said.

According to Krehbiel, it was intended to operate with a much larger staff but typically functioned with only two to four employees.

“There were so many opportunities for outreach,” she said. “But it was never adequately staffed to do that work.”

Anne McCudden, director of New Mexico historical sites for New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, said she believes the center was adequately staffed, but that its downfall resulted more from being in a remote location and having infrastructure problems.

McCudden said keeping the legacy of the Royal Road alive in New Mexico has not been abandoned. In 2010, the stretch of the Camino that runs through Mexico was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. While the road is recognized as a U.S. National Trail through New Mexico, McCudden said there is currently an effort underway to extend that UNESCO designation into the U.S.

 "Interpreting El Camino Real is not always a physical building somewhere; it could be in programming, or as a UNESCO World Heritage destination," she said.

Looking back, Harden and Krehbiel reflected on what could have been done differently to make the center a success. Harden questioned the site selection, 30 miles south of Socorro at I-25 Exit 115, noting that while it overlooks the Jornada del Muerto, there is no visible evidence of the Camino Real trail at the location.

“On paper it looked like a good place,” Harden said. “But there’s no trail there, and Fort Craig isn’t even visible from the center.”

Despite those challenges, the center hosted cultural events, lectures and performances that often drew hundreds of visitors. Krehbiel recalled especially meaningful programs that included traditional Spanish dance workshops and visits from Indigenous communities connected to the historic trail.

“One Indigenous group told us they hadn’t been back to this area in 200 years,” she said. “It was very moving.”

The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro — a 1,600-mile route stretching from Mexico City to northern New Mexico — played a central role in shaping the state’s history. Harden said he believes preserving that story remains essential, even without a physical interpretive center.

“The culture, the food, the music of New Mexico all came up that trail,” he said.

The center has been closed for nearly a decade, but the Friends group continues. With support from the City of Socorro and Socorro County, members are working with the National Park Service to install Camino Real trail signage throughout the city and county.

“That’s something tangible,” Krehbiel said. “You can stand out there and know you’re walking on the Camino Real.”

She said the city helped relocate remaining furniture and fixtures from the center into storage after its closure. Most historical artifacts previously displayed at the site were on loan from other institutions and returned after the center's closure.

Asked whether the Friends group hopes to establish another museum or cultural center, Krehbiel said the group is emotionally and financially exhausted after years of uncertainty.

“Starting a museum is very expensive,” she said. “Right now, we’re at a stopping place.”

Both Harden and Krehbiel acknowledged the difficulty of seeing the building demolished, but said the loss was felt most deeply when the doors first closed.

“There were tears then,” Harden said. “But, at this point, what else can they do with it?”

Even so, both expressed hope that telling the story of the Camino Real — including its diverse cultural perspectives — will continue through education, signage and community engagement.

“The building may go,” Krehbiel said, “but the history doesn’t.”