Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Recent leadership turmoil in the New Mexico Route 66 Association has prompted the removal of a museum from a multimillion-dollar project planned in Tucumcari by the Fast TV Network.
Principals from the Fast TV Network announced in October 2022 it would move from Albuquerque into the vacant Kmart building in Tucumcari and convert it into an $8 million television and movie production facility, plus a New Mexico Route 66 Association museum and welcome center.
During the news conference to announce the project, Fast TV said it would hold a soft opening of the Tucumcari facility on July 1, 2023. Mike Lee, Fast TV’s president and CEO, said at the time the company was under contract to close on the purchase of the property.
July 1 came and went, with the association several times announcing delays to the project.
During a award presentation last month in Tucumcari by then-New Mexico Route 66 Association President and Fast TV co-owner and Vice President Melissa Beasley-Lee, she attributed the delays to surveying issues on the Kmart property.
According to the Quay County Assessor’s Office, the Kmart property remains owned by Matthew Villalobos of Rio Rancho. He has owned it since October 2020.
Other problems surfaced during a regular meeting earlier this month of the New Mexico Route 66 Association.
Johnnie Meier, a former president and current longtime member of the association’s board of directors, said in a phone interview Friday that president Beasley-Lee and Lee, a member of the board of directors, “were confronted about irregularities” regarding the association.
Meier said Lee and Beasley-Lee announced their resignations from the association, and each also submitted resignation letters that would go into effect if certain conditions were not met. The association’s board didn’t accept the conditions and accepted the resignations.
Meier, owner of the Classical Gas Museum in Embudo, said in response to the turmoil that his partnership with the Fast TV Network to move his gas-station memorabilia collection into Tucumcari’s Kmart building as part of a New Mexico Route 66 Association museum and welcome center was “off the table.”
“It’s a messy situation,” Meier said.
Beasley-Lee, contacted by email, declined to answer several questions, including whether she and Lee would continue to set up a Fast TV Network production studio in Tucumcari.
Vickie Ashcraft, elected president of the association in the wake of Beasley-Lee’s apparent resignation, said in a phone interview it was difficult to see how the association also could set up a welcome center in the Kmart building, given the circumstances.
Ashcraft said she was reluctant to give more details because she and other board members had been served a cease-and-desist letter by Albuquerque attorney Blair Dunn on behalf of the Lees.
Ashcraft instead referred to the association’s letter to members that was posted on Facebook several days before.
“We have much work to be done and will not continue to waste time on ethical matters that may have happened previously,” the letter states. “There has been a great deal of resistance to our acceptance of Melissa Lee’s resignation but the rationale behind the action is of significant gravity. At present, we will abstain from divulging specific details as potential litigation may ensue.”
The letter stated the action was taken “to protect the interests of the Route 66 community and our Association.”
It stated the association does not have control of several assets, including its website. It also noted a “fake” Facebook page purporting to be the association’s page was set up recently.
“It is imperative to clarify that henceforth, any statements made by Mrs. Melissa Beasley Lee or Mr. Mike Lee do not represent the view of the Route 66 Association of New Mexico,” the letter concluded.
The association recently received a $50,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The association stated in a news release the funds would be used to help restore neon signs in Tucumcari that were damaged in a hailstorm last May.
Meier said that news release was not authorized by the association and disputed part of its accuracy.
Meier said funds would be primarily used to produce three videos on do-it-yourself methods to repair neon signs.
He said because of turmoil in the association, such a project might be delayed, but it would proceed.
“The association is committed to following through on the videos,” he said. “We have the manpower. The whole country, not just Route 66, could benefit from it.”