Front Page  news  state

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Task Force Picks Las Cruces as Site for State Veterans Museum

By Rene Romo
Journal Staff Writer
       LAS CRUCES — The state's second-largest city has been picked to be home to a new veterans museum, the Governor's Office said Wednesday.
    Gov. Bill Richardson is scheduled to formally announce the selection of Las Cruces as the future home of a state-run veterans museum at a noon news conference today at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, said a spokeswoman for the governor, Alarie Ray-Garcia.
    Leaders of the Veterans Museum Task Force recommended to Richardson on Wednesday that Las Cruces be the museum's home.
    The task force chose Las Cruces from six candidate cities after hearing presentations July 30 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. The other communities in the running for the museum were Carlsbad, Rio Rancho, Fort Stanton, Las Vegas and Angel Fire.
    "I strongly believe that our veterans deserved to have a voice in deciding where this museum, honoring their dedication and sacrifice, should be located,'' Richardson said in a prepared statement. "I thank the task force for their time and for listening to the veterans of our state.''
    Las Cruces may have enjoyed an advantage over the other communities, because state legislators from the region have set aside $1.3 million in capital outlay funds for the project here since 2007.
    In their presentation to the Veterans Museum Task Force, Las Cruces officials said that there are an estimated 108,000 veterans south of Socorro and that the area has strong military ties, with White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo and Fort Bliss outside El Paso, all within an hour's drive of Las Cruces. City and county officials have expressed support for a museum in Las Cruces since 2002.
    State Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, whom Richardson commended for his "dedication to this project,'' said the city's selection was a boon to the area and to veterans.
    "What a wonderful day for Las Cruces and for Doña Ana County,'' Steinborn said. "This museum will be a fitting tribute to New Mexico's long-standing and unprecedented contribution to our country's national security.''
    Richardson has said that once a suitable location for the museum was selected, he would support legislation in the 2009 session to create the center.