Year-round rodeos?
Mendoza, commissioner pushing for indoor arena in Gallup

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Former McKinley County Commissioner Harry Mendoza said Thursday he thinks an event center could be built in Gallup for $15 million.

Mendoza has been heading a county committee to look into the possibility of building an event center, which would include an auditorium and an indoor rodeo arena, for Gallup.

Now that there is talk that Gov. Bill Richardson is also looking at providing state funds for the building of an indoor arena somewhere in New Mexico, Mendoza said he thinks the idea is "very feasible" for Gallup and should be pursued by the city government.

His earlier efforts to get city support were successful but Mendoza said a recent article in The Independent that Mayor Bob Rosebrough is not supporting the idea.

"He wasn't for it before but now that he is planning to run for re-election, I guess he feels he should support it," Mendoza said.

Rosebrough said Thursday that his position on the events center hasn't changed.

"I don't think the city can afford to go into this alone," he said, adding that getting a partnership with the county or the state would be a different matter.

As for Mendoza's comments about the election season beginning, Rosebrough said that he plans to hold a press conference on March 6 to announce whether he will be a candidate for re-election.

Mendoza said it's possible that Richardson got the idea for an indoor rodeo arena from McKinley County Commission Chairman Billy Moore who sent him a letter on Jan. 6 strongly urging state support of the idea for Gallup.

Preliminary plans have been drawn up, said Mendoza, for a 27,000 square-foot center. It would seat 4,300 along with another 1,600 on the floor. It would take 13 acres and provide 1,500 parking spaces.

He estimated that it would cost about $600,000 a year to run but much of this would be paid for by renting out space.

"I think if we have a good manager, we could book up the center almost every week," he said, pointing out that Cheyenne, Wyo., which is about the same size of Gallup, is in the process of building its own center and already has stopped taking events because it's book up for several months after its expected completion date.

He said he has sent a number of letters to large corporations and foundations also asking for support for the project.

A feasibility study has indicated that there are at least five possible areas in Gallup where the events center could be built.

The number one area selected by the study done by NCA Architects was the downtown area, followed by the east side of Gallup near Rehoboth, Red Rock Park and then the west side of Gallup. The northside area was also listed as a possible site.

"This can be done," Mendoza said, adding that he plans to continue trying to get support for the project from area and state officials.