Officials: Build it and they will come

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — The community remains divided on the indoor arena. At the last City Council meeting, Colleen Marchand brought a December 2006 report, which showed little demand or financial potential for such a facility, and spoke very critically of the plans to build the facility. Mayor Harry Mendoza said that the report was for a much larger facility. It also showed that the main problem with Gallup’s economy is a lack of cohesive effort within the community.

“The report showed that (the arena) would work if people work together,” the mayor said.

City Manager Gerald Herrera said that what needs to be considered are the facilities in Gallup that have worked. He used Wal-Mart as an example, which, he said, had unusually high volume of sales for Gallup’s population of 20,000.

“Why do we have a Wal-Mart that is in the top 10 sales?” he asked.

Many in the community still don’t believe there is a need for the arena and that it will ultimately become a “white elephant” like other public use facilities in Gallup, which are a large drain on the city’s budget.

“The mayor just wants a building with his name on it,” Marchand said.

She said that the money that is going to such an arena would take away from projects that need more attention such as the ballpark, a recycling program, sidewalks and infrastructure, and the wastewater treatment plant.

“It’s money we don’t have to throw away,” she said.

Herrera said that the economic climate you see with Wal-Mart would also apply to the arena. Gallup also has three McDonalds, all of which are doing quite well, he said. According to Herrera, it’s these kinds of criteria that were not factored into the 2006 study by Compass Facility Management, Inc.

City Attorney Dave Pederson said that there was an unrealistic consideration in the report of what events the arena would serve. The report said that the population outside of Gallup, which the arena would depend on, is in the lowest income bracket and wouldn’t be able to afford the events. Pederson said that the kinds of events that appeal to people in this area, such as rodeos and livestock shows are much cheaper to attend.

“Does anyone think we’d have a Celine Dion concert?” Pederson said.

He also said that the climate of Gallup renders the current open-air facility at Red Rock Park unusable most of the year.