REQUESTING THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION DIVISION OF THE OFFICE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND THE SANTA FE COUNTY COMMISSION TO ASSIST IN THE PRESERVATION OF THE OSCAR HUBER MEMORIAL BALLPARK IN MADRID AS A HISTORIC SITE IN NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, the Oscar Huber memorial ballpark is located in the town of Madrid; and

WHEREAS, the ballpark was the center of leisure activity in the town; and

WHEREAS, the ballpark was the first ballpark in New Mexico and was revolutionary with its lighted field, electric scoreboard and grandstand; and

WHEREAS, the Madrid miners baseball team, formed in the mid-1920s, was comprised of coal miners and semi-professional baseball players who won many pennants in the central New Mexico baseball league; and

WHEREAS, Madrid families watched the baseball team practice and supported the team at their Sunday games; and

WHEREAS, while at its peak, the population of Madrid was probably about three thousand people and by the 1960s only two families remained, leaving Madrid, in effect, a ghost town; and

WHEREAS, since 1960, the town of Madrid is slowly becoming revitalized, with the highlight being the inclusion of the ballpark as a public ground as a result of the title for the park being donated by the Huber family to the Madrid landowners association in 1977; and

WHEREAS, the restoration of the grandstand and the ballpark would add to the quality of life for the entire region and a healthy leisure activity center for the youth of the area and a new era of glory for the Madrid miners;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the historic preservation division of the office of cultural affairs and the Santa Fe county commission be requested to assist in the preservation of the Oscar Huber memorial ballpark in Madrid as a historic site in New Mexico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the state historic preservation officer, members of the Santa Fe county commission and members of Madrid cultural projects, incorporated.