Legislative wrap-up: Senate committee passes bill for Roswell Air Center | Local News

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Greg Nibert (R-Roswell), would appropriate a one-time payment from the state General Fund to the New Mexico Department of Transportation over five years.

According to the bill, the money will go toward “construction, reconstruction, repairs and improvements, including planning, design and equipment, to the Roswell air center for the purpose of hosting air racing events.”

Local officials in and around Chaves County are requesting the money as the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) eyes Roswell as a candidate to be the new host city for the National Championship Air Races and Air Show, starting in 2025. Nibert said for that to happen, some upgrades will need to be made to the Air Center.

“While we have an air facility that can host it, there are a number of things they will need to have in place in order to be a good host,” Nibert said.

Roswell and five other cities with airfields are being considered as new locations for the event after Reno, Nevada, opted to no longer host the air show after the fall of 2024 due to expanding development and safety concerns. Those concerns include pilot deaths in past years and the death of 10 spectators in 2011 when a plane lost control and crashed into a boxed seating area. The pilot also died in that incident.

Economic developers and elected officials from southeast New Mexico are hoping to get the chance to host the air races, which, according to the New Mexico Department of Tourism, attracted…