Officials to meet with developer in Salt Lake City

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Instead of spending $24,000 to fly in a Canadian developer interested in building a multi-million dollar events center here along with three of his staff, the city and county will fly two of their staff to Salt Lake City for $1,200.

According to McKinley County Manager Tom Trujillo, County Attorney Doug Decker and Gallup Development Commission Director Glen Benefield will leave for the Utah capital this evening to meet with the developer and the architect and banker he's working with there on three other stateside projects. They'll be returning Wednesday.

Trujillo said the county would be footing the bill.

The private developer, Gary Jameson, asked the city and county to fly him and his staff to Gallup for a chance to tour some of the spots a joint committee has identified as possible sites for the center when his plans to arrive from Phoenix at his own expense fell through. But the committee was hesitant to spend that much money before deciding if it even wanted to pursue private development of their center.

By sending staff to Salt Lake City, Jameson won't get to tour the sites. But Benefield and Decker, Trujillo said, should come away with a better idea of how serious and capable Jameson is of pulling off his idea.

"They'll meet and see if he's really serious about trying to spend some money and serious about bringing an events center here," Trujillo said.

According to city and county officials, Jameson has proposed financing the center on his own if he decides a Gallup events center could make money. But according to Trujillo, there's a chance the city and county may be asked to chip in. Benefield and Decker, he said, will try to find out more about exactly what the developer has in mind.

The meeting, Trujillo said, will help the committee decide if further talks with Jameson are worthwhile. If so, the city and county may decide to invest in a visit for Jameson and his staff later on.

The five locations under consideration for the center include a site next to Harold Runnels Pool, a site next to the Gallup Fire Department's training tower, one across from the Gallup Sports Complex on Highway 602, a site beside Wal-Mart, and another near the Gallup Municipal Airport. They're looking for a 15- to 20-acre plot on which to build a 5,000-seat facility.