By Mary Alice Murphy
Santa Clara Mayor Richard Bauch presented to more than 100 people the master plan for old Fort Bayard at a meeting at the Santa Clara Armory on Wednesday evening, July 6, 2016.
"This is a really important meeting for us," Bauch said. "The village has worked for 14 months to save Fort Bayard. Fort Bayard is near and dear to our hearts. We want to save it to be an economic driver for the county, and especially for the Mining District."
He introduced Adam Mendonca, Gila National Forest supervisor, and the four people, who had been instrumental in developing the master plan. They include Steven Shelendich of Silver Architects, who did the building studies; Mike Svetz of Pros Consulting out of Phoenix, who compiled the plan; Pamela Weber of Weber Engineering, who researched the infrastructure; and Stacey Domino-Mrazik of Silver Engineers, who worked with Silver Architects.
Paula Geisler showed a short video she had created, which will be shown during Santa Clara's presentation to the governor's office at a meeting on July 28. "We want to try to make this vision a reality for us," Bauch said. "The governor's office has asked us to show 'you can do it.'"
"Fort Bayard is our place, an open space for us," Bauch said. "We older people want to save the fort and history. But not only us, also the younger generation."
Youth Conservation Corps members, who have been working out at Fort Bayard this summer to clean up and beautify the place have been also learning about the history.
"We have been looking at old foundations and cleaning up the fort," Alyssa Arsola, one of the YCC members, said. "We need to keep Fort Bayard's history. We don't want to erase that history. I remember when I was in elementary school going to Fort Bayard Days and learning about life in the early days. Fort Bayard is important for us and future generations."
Luke Montoya, also a YCC member, said the group is mostly cleaning up the site and learning history. "We are keeping it for its rich history. It teaches us things we didn't know before. I have learned about Gen. Pershing who served here. Fort Bayard is an important part of the community we need to save."
Mendonca spoke next. "I am the Gila National Forest supervisor, and I am responsible for 3.2 million acres. We do a lot to preserve history in the forest. Fort Bayard means a lot to me personally. I am a Grant County native and I took hunter training at the fort."
"Bauch asked me to partner with him," Mendonca continued. "This team has done an amazing job of showing what Fort Bayard can be. By partnering we can make it more of a reality. Please listen to what this place might be. We want to be part of this partnership."
"Many of us can remember Fort Bayard in its prime, with maintained buildings and green grass," Bauch said. "It has fallen into disarray. My real concern is that we are running out of time to save the buildings. It would be tragic to let Fort Bayard fall apart and lose it. Rep. John Zimmerman has been working with us to save Fort Bayard."
"I'm just doing the job you elected me to do," Zimmerman said. "When I was researching Fort Bayard, I discovered a Zimmerman is buried at the Fort Bayard National Cemetery.
"Why is nothing being done about the buildings?" Zimmerman asked. "I tried to promote the three big wings of the old hospital for the Cultural Affairs Department, which was looking for a location. We failed to save the building and now they are tearing it down."
He said it's a shame the state of disrepair the state has let the buildings fall into. "Why is this history not being preserved? It breaks my heart. I can't say enough for the mayor and the public doing what you are doing to save it. I will help where I can."
Bauch said the demolition of the hospital, which is almost done, "makes me shudder and to worry that others might be next."
Svetz began his presentation of the master plan. "Any project like this has to have a major vision and a community that has the same vision. At the end of the day, decisions are made on available resources. Nothing squashes an opinions like a number."
"The community has been extremely engaged on Fort Bayard," Svetz continued. "Steve, Pam and Stacey have assessed and studied the infrastructure and buildings. We wanted to root this plan in data, including for demographics, market potential, needs analysis, conceptual master plan, capital improvement costs, funding and time, and the operating financial model for the long-term."
The demographics for the 200 miles around Fort Bayard include Tucson and Las Cruces, with about 4 million people. A range of 300 miles around the facility would serve close to 6 million people.
He said the only way to have financial viability is to have peopleG