By Mary Alice Murphy

Santa Clara Mayor Richard Bauch welcomed participants to a public input meeting on Monday, Oct. 5, at the former National Guard Armory.

"The purpose of this meeting is to get public input for the consultant we hired to write a business plan to utilize old Fort Bayard," Bauch said. "We want to plan what we will do once the old hospital comes down."

He introduced Elizabeth Jeffries, Property Management Division manager, in charge of deeds, surveys and lands for the New Mexico General Services Department. Also on hand was Brent Flenniken, consultant for the state on the demolition of the old Fort Bayard Medical Center hospital.

Stephen Selendich of Silver Architects and Pam Weber of Weber Engineering were also available to answer questions.

Mike Svetz of PROS Consulting out of its Phoenix office will write the business plan. He led the discussion.

"The mayor approached me about writing the plan," Svetz said. "The village of Santa Clara wants to annex and redevelop Fort Bayard."

He showed slides proposing a Fort Bayard Living Heritage Park. "These photos show the historic connection between Santa Clara and Fort Bayard. I threw in some historical documents showing the relationship. The utilities at the fort are tied into the village and the new hospital."

Items proposed for redevelopment include a new rodeo arena, a swimming hole, renovating the old golf course, putting in pecan orchards, and having horseback riding. "We also talked about an amphitheater and how to rebuild and reuse the historic buildings. It's a great community asset. I envision a 20-year project, with a public-private partnership."

Scott Terry, Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce executive director, asked if the village of Santa Clara was going to take over ownership of the fort.

"That is our ultimate goal," Bauch said, "even if it's just a 50-year lease. We want to convince the state that this can be done. We put in a proposal along with others a couple of years back, but the state chose none of them."

"The reason I asked is if you don't own the land, why would I, as a private entity, want to invest in developing state-owned land?" Terry asked.

Bauch said the water rights would stay with the state. "I hope we can get a long-term lease for the water. Our incentive for investors will be that the lease will be economical."

"Know that I support you," Terry said.

A female participant asked about a recreational vehicle park and that she was concerned it might become full of long-term residents.

"It will not be a trailer park," Bauch said. "We're blessed here with good weather, so snowbirds might want to stay here for several months, but then go back to Illinois or Wisconsin or wherever. We are trying to incorporate the beauty of the fort and economic development to create gross receipts taxes for the village."

Svetz pointed out that a campground could have different kinds of camping, from primitive, which might draw someone for a weekend or up to a week, and RVs, which could be for a weekend or up to several months.

"We need to identify specific areas to support different kinds of camping," Svetz said. "We would need to get a third party to manage the camping area.

"We need to know the market," he continued. "What is your customer base? What are they interested in coming here for?

"We need to make sure what we do at the site has compatible uses," Svetz said. "Possibly where the hospital is coming down, there could be an event or festival venue. Once we start, we need to know what the market will support. We can create bubbles, such as an event spot, a campground and reserve the buildings as historic. We need to prioritize compatible uses so they work well together. We need public space that provides opportunities for different uses. We want tours and visitors to come here and stay for several days."

Bauch says it's a regional project. "Bayard, Hurley and Santa Clara need economic growth. It would revitalize the mining district."

A man in the audience said a lot of veterans are looking for housing. "Is there someway to use part of the site for rehabilitation? Homeless veterans need affordable housing to get off the street."

Cecilia Bell, Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society president, said about 50 percent of the guests they see on the tours at Fort Bayard are veterans. "They are interested in the military history and looking at the national cemetery."

"Will you do marketing?" Terry asked.

"We are doing the business plan and prioritizing what we can do," Svetz said. "We are trying to give Mayor Bauch a sales pitch to go to the state and show them we have our ducks in a row."

Bauch noted the village wants to make Fort Bayard sustainable. "The Department of Tourism and New Mexico True will help us promote the fort and we will promote it."

Terry suggested visiting with companies who might be interested in investing in Santa Clara.

Svetz said if the fort were to be leased to Santa Clara, state procurement would have to be followed. "We need to identify potential partnerships and businesses we could approach."

Evelyn Yates, county resident, said her husband was a World War II veteran and is buried at Fort Bayard. "Don't throw the vets away."

"The village works closely with veterans," Bauch assured her. "We are just starting to lease space in this armory and several veteran groups are using it. We won't forget veterans. We appreciate them."

An audience member asked if there had been any thought about a motel that could open up for people who want to visit other than in Silver City.

"We have thought about that," Bauch said. "The Nurses' Quarters could be turned into the B&B or a hotel."

He assured the participants that anything new built on the property would stay with the same architecture to enhance the aspect of history. "We want people to stay longer, with activities, stores, and places to eat. Another concept we want is to incorporate a visitor center for the county, perhaps where the road forks at the front."

A woman asked if people who could not attend the meeting could write their ideas and give them to the mayor. "Sure," Bauch said.

Martin Miller of the FBHPS and the Fort Bayard Restoration and Development Coalition asked what the timeline was for Bauch to present to the state.

"I'm hoping for December or January, before the legislative session," Bauch replied. "We want to keep the state up to date. The General Services Department has said that nothing will happen until the hospital is down. The state plans to hold public meetings. The state will likely put out a request for expressions of interest again. "

Svetz said he wanted to give Bauch the opportunity to get in front of Santa Fe as soon as possible. "We have to take state feedback. We will present a formal outline."

A woman asked if the village is collecting data on the fort and visitation.

"We want to get a true understanding of how and what people, like tourists, spend their money on now," Svetz said. "I talked to a gentleman who is interested in developing a tour guide business to draw people from overseas who want to learn about American history. If you get support, service-oriented businesses will pop up and do the marketing for you."

Bauch said the national cemeteries want to expand the Fort Bayard National Cemetery. "So part of what we're talking about is expansion of the cemetery. The Veterans Service groups are possibly interested in a new hospital or facility. We also want to put orchards back that were once here."

"If people are coming to see the old history, is there any way we can work to stabilize the old buildings?" Bell asked.

"We have an agreement with the state to maintain the site," Bauch said. "The Forest Service has also made comments that they would like to expand the trails."

"We're calling it a park," Svetz said. "f you look at it through the eyes of a park, that means big huge areas of open space. For instance, a conservancy, not the state or city, operates Central Park in New York City."

A woman asked about the plan for security.

"If it goes as we hope, our village police and the Sheriff's Office will be responsible for security," Bauch sad.

The same woman asked if it would come out of the village residents' tax money.

"We hope to generate revenue, which will come back into the village," Bauch said. "We can use the gross receipts tax to manage the whole community. The key component is that we would like to structure a board of individuals to oversee Fort Bayard and answer to Santa Clara. We could have representatives from broad backgrounds, such as finance, security, maintenance and so forth."

A man said he knew the hospital is being torn down. "Is there any possibility to save it?"

Bauch said the hospital would be torn down. "I wanted to use it as a state archives, because their archives are full. The state decided the best thing to do was remove it. It wasn't feasible to save it."

Terry asked why it would take a year to pull it down.

Flenniken said the state wants historical documentation and an architectural survey, with old plans to be recorded. "The reason why Tatsch Construction was chosen was because it had a better idea of historical architecture. Today they are doing a preliminary plan; next will be asbestos and lead paint abatement. Hopefully, the demolition will begin after the first of the year."

Ansel Walters, member of FBHPS and FBR&DC, asked if mowing could be done to cut down the grass, which will become a fire hazard.

"We renewed the agreement with the state, and we will be able to catch up with mowing over the winter," Bauch said.

"For those of us who promote tourism, will the museum be open or will it be shut down?" Terry asked.

"That's why there's a fence around the demolition site," Bauch said. "The museum and the theater will be open."

"We will start the demolition one wing at a time," Flenniken said.

Bell asked if the demolition would be complete for Fort Bayard's 150th birthday next August. Flenniken said the demolition could take up to more than 400 days, and November of next year is the likely earliest time the whole area will be open again.

Bauch explained that the plan for the demolition would include removing the foundation and basement, and filling in the hole to make it flat. "It is almost five acres."

Jeffries asked if the area didn't already have re-enactments, to which Bauch said, yes, during Fort Bayard Days, which had to be cancelled this year because of the demolition process.

"Buffalo Soldier groups and artillery groups from Albuquerque are all ready to come, when they can do re-enactments again," Bauch said. "At the fork, we want to make it as if one is entering an old fort and going back in time."

Terry asked about the infrastructure, as unused infrastructure tends to deteriorate.

"Steve and Weber Engineering are already studying the water system," Bauch said. "They have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done. We have to show the state, we can start slow and build up." He said the Colonias Infrastructure Fund could be a potential funding source and that he would be having a call with the state to see if the project would qualify for a Community Block Development Grant.

A woman in the audience said she knew of a contractor who would be interested in donating time and materials to shore up the houses.

"Later, we might be able to do that," Bauch said. "We hope that we can arrange it so people can live in one of the Junior Officer's quarters, for instance, and work on the buildings."

Dave Chandler, FBR&DC president, said Fort Bayard offers a huge opportunity for youths to be involved. "All the school districts could be part of it for trades. Aldo Leopold Charter School might even be interested in building its campus at Fort Bayard. The Youth Conservation Corps can also help."

Bauch said the village is considering using the armory for training for blue-collar jobs and using Fort Bayard as a lab, and could provide summer jobs on archaeological and surveying work.

Sheila Hudman, Santa Clara clerk, said a tech school could provide job training, not only for youths, but also for veterans. "It would give them a trade."

The meeting ended, and some stayed around to ask questions and have side conversations.