A decision on the future of the Otis Gym was tabled at the June 4 Eddy County Commission meeting.
The Otis Gym, located at 2513 Smedley Road, about three miles south of Carlsbad, was slated for demolition, but that decision was tabled at the April commission meeting after residents expressed concerns.
During his presentation, Eddy County Public Works and Projects Director Jason Burns gave a timeline on the gym:
- Fall 2018: Eddy County completed a facilities assessment.
- May 2019″ Eddy County Commission voted to decommission the Otis Gym.
- August 2023: Eddy County completed another facilities assessment. It supported its previous conclusions.
- February 2024: Eddy County advertised for bids for the abatement and demolition of the Otis Gym.
- April 2024: Eddy County Commission requested a presentation detailing the current condition of building.
Burns reported there is confirmed asbestos and lead-based paint in the gym, mold in the restrooms, a failing roof, electrical and HVAC that is not up to code, and water damage throughout, as well as structural damage in the wood pier and beam under the gym. He also reported the Otis Community Center is in good condition and the grounds have been improved.
Burns reported the 7,162-square-foot Otis Gym is in “system failure” condition and received a 123% total facility FCI score (cost of repairs divided by cost to replace) after the August 2023 assessment.
Burns laid out four options with estimates. - Demolish and build new: $3.2 million
- Renovate: $4.55 million
- Demo only: $200,000
- Leave decommissioned: Unknown cost
Prior to the decommissioning in 2019, the gym was used for weddings, dances, skating parties and meetings. Community members have expressed value in the historical aspects of the building. Historical preservation efforts would increase the costs “a lot,” according to Burns. An idea that was thrown out was to take a section of the gym and put it on the wall of a new facility to preserve it.
“Understand that if the direction is to rebuild this, it is not going to be like the existing Otis Gym,” said Burns. “It is going to be a metal building with a floor and new bathrooms and make it something that is not high maintenance. The entire point of building a new one is to spend the investment up front to lower our maintenance costs for the next 50 years.”
“I’m curious,” said District Two Commissioner Jon Henry. “It’s right by Loving. They got gyms. I’m trying to figure out what we’re truly trying to change? To have a gym? Or a place to have a dance? We’ve tried to get the gym into someone else’s hands, and no one wanted to do anything with it. I would like to see the rental history as well.”
“I understand the historical value,” said District Four Commissioner and Chair James Bowen. “Some of these old gyms are awesome. But what are we gonna do with them? I’m struggling with $4 million, and I am not sure who is gonna use it. I am willing to say there will be less than a fraction of a percent of the population of Eddy County that will actually use this place. In doing so, up front there’s money, and then there’s money in perpetuity after that for maintenance and upkeep.”
“We are talking about spending $600K on the splash pad in Otis,” said District One Commissioner Ernie Carlson. “If the splash pad can be utilized as a draw, so will a new facility there. The idea was to put the splash pad to get more utilization of the community center.”
Henry clarified the money for the splash pad is capital outlay money from Santa Fe and can’t be used on a gym.
District Five Commissioner Sarah Cordova said she would like to go in the facility and see it for herself. District Three Commissioner Fred Beard agreed the Otis Gym is historic.
“I think we need to do something with it,” he said. “I think if it was restored, the use might come back.”
The commission tabled a vote and schedule a meeting at 9 a.m. Friday, June 14, to tour the Otis Gym and receive rental usage information on the gym from 2014-2019.
Later in the meeting, Burns gave an update on Eddy County projects.
Crews will be setting up a detour and start paving the Kraus intersection in Carlsbad over the next couple of weeks. County crews bladed Longhorn Road to smooth it out until the start of a big overhaul project on July 1. Eddy County also finished a relocated convenience station in Artesia.
The transfer station, formerly located near the intersection of 13th Street and Fairgrounds Road, is now located adjacent the Eddy County Road Department’s Artesia warehouse at 2611 S. 13th St. Additional containers have been added.
Eddy County Sherriff Mark Cage reported U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan is putting an appropriation before the federal committee for a Rapid DNA system for Eddy County.
“The senator has been very instrumental in helping us with that,” said Cage. “It can help solve cases very quickly. We are expecting to see that happen.”
In other business Tuesday, the commission approved an ordinance granting a non-exclusive franchise to New Mexico Gas Company Inc., a New Mexico corporation and public utility, in Eddy County for 25 years.
The commission granted a bid for employment-related physical services and drug testing to New Era Physical Therapy and Lesher Health Clinic. The commission then approved the revenue report for April 2024 with the following information: - Budgeted revenue: $262 million
- Budgeted expense: $295 million
- Actual revenue: $348 million
- Actual expense: $198 million
- Percent collected: 133%
- Percent used: 67%
Joshua Mack, Eddy County Fire and Rescue (ECFR) chief, reported the weight room at the fire administration building is open to county employees and both new ambulances are in service.
Mack also reported the ECFR held a meeting at the Queen fire station May 8 and had 19 people complete applications to volunteer. The volunteers are in training, and they are hoping to get enough fully certified firefighters to re-recognize the fire station with the state. Mack also reported a new radio system should be in place by November or December.
Mack said the ECFR’s firefighter and EMS recruiting grant was recently unexpectedly capped at $65,000. The grant was supposed to cover 100% of first-year salaries of entry-level EMS firefighters, 50% of second-year salaries, and 25% of third-year.
“It was recently capped, so for our employees with benefits and everything, the grant would cover 54.7% for Year One, and the county will cover 54.8%,” said Mack. “Year Two, the county will be covering 70.8%, and the grant would cover 29.2%. In Year Three, the county will cover 86.4%, and the grant will only cover 13.6%.”
Mack also shared citizens can check on wildfires at inciweb.wildfire.gov and on an app called WatchDuty Wildfire Maps and Alerts.
In his comments, Henry shared that Lea County is putting $21 million into housing, and he is looking into how they are doing that.
“Market-grade housing helps our first responders, it helps our county employees and teachers,” said Henry. “There are so many ways to help bring in workforce we are desperate for. I would like to see a possibility of a housing and economic development injection.”
The resolution and agreement consent agenda was approved, which included: - renewal of a contract for commissary with Keefe Commissary Network, LLC, nationally headquartered in St. Louis, Mo.
- renewal of a contract for on-call engineering, surveying, testing and/or environmental services with Stantec Consulting Services, internationally headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
- renewal of a contract for landscaping services with The Garden Mart of Carlsbad.
- the purchase of marketing services from Red Rocket Media of Carlsbad.
- the purchase of a tire shredder for the City of Carlsbad.
- an equipment service contract with Sparks Office Solutions of Carlsbad for a copier/scanner/printer for the administrative offices.
- an equipment service agreement with Sparks for the County Assessor’s Office.
- a service agreement with the Southeast New Mexico Community Action Corporation for senior citizens’ program services.
- a service agreement with the Carlsbad Community of Hope Center.
- a professional service agreement with the City of Artesia.
- a professional service agreement between Eddy County and the Artesia Chamber of Commerce for economic development services.
- a professional service agreement with Artesia MainStreet.
- a professional service agreement with the City of Carlsbad.
- a professional service agreement with the Carlsbad Department of Development for economic development services.
- a professional service agreement with Carlsbad MainStreet.
- a professional service agreement with the Village of Hope.
- a professional service agreement with Grammy’s House Artesia Domestic Violence Shelter.
- a professional service agreement with Affirming Heart Victim Services of Carlsbad.
- a professional service agreement with the Carlsbad Community Anti-Drug & Gang Coalition’s Teen Court.
- a professional service agreement with the Carlsbad Honor Guard.
- a professional service agreement with Paws & Claws Humane Society Inc. of Artesia.
- a professional service agreement with Noah’s Ark Animal Refuge Inc. of Carlsbad.
- a professional service agreement with the New Mexico State Mobile Library.
- a professional service agreement with 535 Group, LLC, nationally headquartered in McLean, Va., for federal lobbying services.
- a professional service agreement between Eddy County and the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce for professional marketing services.
- a Memorandum of Understanding with extension services in Eddy County.
- a Memorandum of Understanding with the Eddy County Sheriff’s Posse.
- a professional service agreement with the Artesia Chamber of Commerce for advocacy services.
- a professional services agreement between Eddy County and Cambiar Consulting, LLC, nationally headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz.
- a professional services agreement for general legal services for Eddy County.
- a Memorandum of Agreement with the City of Artesia for DWI offender tracking services.
- a Memorandum of Agreement with the City of Carlsbad for DWI offender tracking services.
- a contract with Dr. Van Warren for auricular detoxification supervision.
- a contract with Frank Magourilos for DWI Prevention Program oversight and evaluation.
- a contract with Nancy Husselman for DWI community wellness and outreach services.
