By AVERY TAYLOR Daily Press Writer

Arrangements for the new recreation center in Artesia are underway as the design phase of the project continues.

There will be a groundbreaking on October 17, according to Construction Manager agency Scott Taylor. Jaynes Corporation, the contractor building the rec center, will begin construction on the plot of land south of the Artesia Aquatic Center on October 21.

As reported by the Daily Press in March of this year, the City of Artesia gave the Artesia Recreation Center Foundation the support to begin the design process on the new rec center by approving a Memorandum of Understanding. Since then, architect José Zelaya of Huitt-Zollars in Albuquerque has been working on the design for the new facility.

Zelaya said he is currently in the schematic design process, which involves putting the components of the new rec center into a site plan and floor plan.

The next step, which is beginning now, is called design development, Zelaya said. This involves adding the engineering components and things like mechanical and electrical systems to these plans.

Since March, the plan for the size of the rec center has gotten a little bigger. This is due to an increase in the size of the fit ness area, but Zelaya said it was done proportionally with the size of the rest of the center, so the overall square footage has not increased by a large amount.

“Just the fitness area in gen eral has gotten a little bigger to provide more services, which proportionally to the rest of the facility is not that much,” Zelaya said.

In assessing what to include, Zelaya has considered public opinion and input, including community involvement from pervious public meetings about the rec center.

“The new public interest in pickleball is one of the items that has changed the size of the facility, because there’s a lot of interest nationwide and also a lot of interest locally in pickleball,” Zelaya said. “There aren’t that many public facilities in southeastern New Mexico right now that are enclosed that include pickleball.”

According to a report by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States for the third consecutive year.

The most challenging part of the design process has been accounting for rising construction costs, Zelaya said. According to a report by Currie & Brown, construction costs in the United States were estimated to rise by 3 to 6 percent in 2024.

“That’s a challenge to make sure that we’re designing a facility that meets the needs, but that we can actually control the cost as well,” Zelaya said. To mitigate this concern, the rec center board involved a Construction Manager agency early in the process, Zelaya said. Scott Taylor is the CMa for the project, and his role includes cost evaluation and control.

Zelaya has learned, from working on other projects in Artesia, what kinds of materials and systems he can incorporate in a facility in the area, he said.

“If this building was in Albuquerque, we would probably have an automated building control system that controls the temperature and all that,” Zelaya said. “They’re very sophisticated systems, but difficult to maintain.”

Zelaya is designing the rec center with the resources of the City of Artesia in mind, he said.

“We’ve learned to work with what the Artesia maintenance and facilities department can provide for the facility,” Zelaya said.

Other considerations that Zelaya has learned from working in Artesia are regional weather conditions, he said. He incorporates this into his projects through doors that can open and close on a windy day, for example.

The project means a new facility for the Artesia Recreation Department to manage. John Anguiano is the recreation supervisor for the department.

Zelaya said the new rec center will leave a lasting impression on the community.

“Particularly for me, it’s quite an honor to be trusted with a facility of this size and this impact in Artesia,” Zelaya said. “It is very likely that this facility will outlive me and will outlive just about everyone that works on it and knowing that I get to design it with a team of engineers and architects – that I get to lead that team – it’s a huge responsibility and I love that challenge.”

RUIDOSO NEWS REPORT

Ruidoso Downs Race Track plans to resume horse racing with a four-day weekend starting Independence Day.

After floodwaters breached the track’s turn last Saturday, the last two races were canceled. Additional rains postponed racing Sunday and Monday, June 30 and July 1.

Workers have spent several days getting the track ready and, barring additional rains or other unforeseen events, racing will resume Thursday, July 4.

The rescheduling of trials for the Grade-1 $800,000 Rainbow Derby and estimated $482,000 Rainbow Oaks Presented by Rolling Still Vodka and Ponderosa Whiskey will be this Saturday and Sunday, July 6 and 7, pending approval by the New Mexico Racing Commission.

The Derby and Oaks trials were postponed June 30. Ruidoso Downs General Manager Rick Baugh met with horsemen Monday, July 1, to hear their input about the proposed rescheduling of the trials, and awaited word from the racing commission through Tuesday.

“We are doing everything in our power to repair the damage to the race track and we’re in hopes that we can run the Derby and Oaks trials this weekend and get back on schedule,” Baugh said.

He added the quarter horse track could be available for quarter horse training as early as Wednesday morning. Baugh said the thoroughbred track’s six-furlong chute has been severely damaged and it might be considerably longer before the track can continue with thoroughbred training and racing.

“The quarter horse portion of our race track is unscathed from the floods,” Baugh said. “The first turn of the thoroughbred track sustained the flood damage and we are working as fast as we can to make those necessary repairs.”

Meanwhile, crews are using excavators to make the river channel much wider and deeper as it goes through the track’s property in the event of further floodwaters.

“We remain confident that we’re going to be able to race this weekend,” Baugh said. “We are dealing with never-before seen flooding within this community, so we appreciate the support of our horsemen and racing industry as we all work to get through this crisis together.”

Post time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, July 4, and 12:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 5-7. The latest information about the racing season can be found at www.raceruidoso.com.

On the last full day of racing, Friday, June 28, Favorite Fire V, a two-year-old filly in just her second career start, broke on top and held on by a neck to win the eighth trial race and qualify for the $1 million Rainbow Futurity.

“She’s such a small filly that I was concerned she might get caught,” jockey Francisco Calderon said. “She left running and really kept her head down and did a nice job.”

The filly ran the 400-yards in 19.480 seconds just in front of Ohana Spirit who also qualified for the final to be run on Sunday, July 14. Favorite Fire V is owned by Sammy Valeriano and trained by Heath Taylor. It was a maiden win for the filly.

On Saturday, FDD Dreams and jockey Luis Martinez broke sharply and romped home to a three-anda-half length victory in the seventh trial race to qualify with the fastest time of the day, 19.356 seconds for 400-yards.

“It’s special when these horses are raised on your ranch and then succeed on the race track,” owner Javier Rodriguez said.

The gelding is a homebred from the La Feliz Montana Ranch. The gelding is sired by FDD Dynasty out of the mare Treasured Dreams by Apolitical Jess.

The final two races Saturday, June 29, were canceled due to flooding on the race track from the burn scars in the Ruidoso area. Those horses will remain eligible for the Rainbow Derby next season and their nomination entry fees will be refunded.

Hezgothelook Z, winner of the $1 Million Ruidoso Futurity, qualified as the second-fastest on Saturday. The gelding still has the chance at winning the Triple Crown with victories in the Rainbow final and All American Futurity.