Chevron donates $90K to revive Molycorp Miner Memorial Field
Fundraiser concert set for Labor Day weekend, featuring Darren Cordova y Calor
The dormant Molycorp Miner Memorial Field in Questa is poised to return to life, thanks to a $90,000 in-kind donation from Chevron. The rejuvenated property, complete with baseball field, dugouts and announcer’s booth, as well as a stage and new fencing, will reopen to the public for a concert that’s slated to take place Labor Day weekend.
ENTACT, the company Chevron contracts with to manage the bulk of its operations and maintenance at the former molybdenum mine site, pitched in with a $10,000 inkind donation, bringing the total cost of the project to $100,000.
Chevron purchased the molybdenum mine, along with assets like the baseball field and mine headquarters building, when it acquired the Unocal Corporation in 2005. Unocal had previously subsumed Molycorp, the company that owned and operated the Questa mine for a majority of its history.
ENTACT work crews have removed weeds and downed trees, graded access roads and painted over graffiti at the Miner Memorial Field. When completed, the project will include new lighting, a new electrical service panel and vendor area wiring at the field. Additionally, the “stairway trail to the upper parking area” will be improved, the stage is being repaired and new fencing will be installed around the perimeter of the field. An entrance gate for improved security is also in the works.
“This work is being completed despite the heavy monsoon season this summer with nearly daily rains,” Christian Isely, Chevron’s Questa-based public affairs advisor, said in a statement. “ENTACT continues to hire locally, with over 60 percent of its 34 dedicated site personnel being local hires. ENTACT also has a long track record of supporting our local community with all the assistance they provide during Questa’s annual Healing Fields of Honor event during Memorial Day weekend.”
Isely said the field restoration effort dovetails with other projects that Chevron, ENTACT and other companies have undertaken in collaboration with the village.
“Combined with preliminary design work completed by Chevron’s other business partner Arcadis, the village’s upcoming river restoration activity on the Red River and future plans to build a trailhead on the upper portion of adjacent Chevron property, Molycorp Miner Memorial Field is likely to become a significant recreational asset that will improve the quality of life for residents and help diversify Questa’s economy,” Isely said.
Malaquias Rael, former Questa mayor and chair of the Questa Economic Development Fund, said the field saw less and less use over the past 10 years as Little League participation dwindled, and annual Questa Fiestas became oriented more around the restored San Antonio del Río Colorado Church. Then, COVID-19 lockdowns and other pandemic realities put the old field to sleep for two-and-a-half years.
“During the pandemic, it really went dormant; softball hasn’t happened there for a while,” Rael said. “It’s nice to see they’re redoing it. Hopefully, it will be something people will take pride in and vandalism will be limited.”
Rael noted that the related trailhead project has been on Questa’s list of priority open space infrastructure for some time.
“The upper part [of the field property] would really be a nice jumping-off point for a trailhead, especially since we’ve been working on trying to get trail development — like biking, hiking and all that for Largo Canyon,” Rael said, adding that “hopefully the village can maintain a budget to maintain that park” and other open space infrastructure.
Mayor John Ortega acknowledged the difficulty small municipalities like Questa sometimes have keeping up with such maintenance.
“We do have [a parks maintenance budget], but it is very, very limited,” he said.
Darren Cordova y Calor will headline the “Dia de las Acequias del Norte” Northern New Mexico music concert on Sept. 3, which will also feature a beer garden and food vendors. Darren Lee, Dynette Marie and Makayla Antonia are also set to perform. Gates open at 2 p.m., with music from 4 to 10 p.m. Tickets are available at the Questa Visitor Center and El Monte Carlo Lounge, as well as Taos Pro Music and Audio or online at HoldMyTicket.com.
All ticket proceeds will be donated to local acquia associations, according to event organizers.