The ‘secret’ New Mexico museum the public will never see

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – There’s an old warehouse hidden away in Albuquerque’s northwest commercial district. Two World War II-era corrugated steel Quonset huts house an unusual museum, the likes of which you have never seen.

Welcome to the New Mexico Museum of Military History. Never heard of it? That’s because the privately owned museum collection is closed to the public. In fact, despite support from the cities of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, the National Guard, and the State Legislature, the stealth museum has no phone, no signs, and no visiting hours. It’s not listed in tourist brochures and the door is always locked.

Take a peek inside, and the first thing to hit you will be clutter and disarray. You see, this collection is less a museum and more a vast hodgepodge of military memorabilia including trucks, jeeps, trailers, ambulances, motorcycles, parts, uniforms, hats, ribbons, ammo boxes, maps, paperback books, and miscellaneous papers.

At the core of the museum’s collection are nearly 100 historic military vehicles that once saw service in far-flung conflicts across the globe. Some vehicles are in working condition, some not. The assemblage is owned by a non-profit group called the New Mexico Museum of Military History.

“The World War II generation is all but gone,” said museum Board Member Gregg Hartz. “This is what they took and fought a war with. We’d like to preserve it here in New Mexico for future generations.”

Faced with the challenge of owning historic military equipment with no place to display it, the museum sought public funding for a permanent location to showcase its vast collection. The New Mexico State Legislature chipped in $830,000 and the City of Rio Rancho offered to donate five acres for a museum complex. But those commitments turned into just another expensive government boondoggle.

The New Mexico Museum of Military History was a project that could have been but never was.

The first legislative appropriation was in 2006 when state lawmakers authorized $100,000 for architects to design a 76,000-square-foot museum complete with exhibit halls, storage areas, and a gift shop. However, after the private museum’s board failed to come up with $8,000,000 to cover construction costs, the architectural plans were discarded.

The military history museum has lost more than $700,000 in state appropriations because the non-profit group couldn’t meet New Mexico funding deadlines. Lawmakers reallocated the funds to other capital projects.

Meanwhile, the New Mexico National Guard helped out by allowing the museum to temporarily store vehicles at the Rio Rancho Armory. However, the non-profit museum wore out its welcome after “temporary” storage stretched into almost 20 years. Because it had breached its agreement, the museum was directed to remove all its equipment from the Armory. Despite the eviction notice the museum still stores many of its military vehicles on National Guard property. After being stored for years, unprotected from the elements at the Guard’s Armory, those trucks have lost much of their historic value.

In 2006, the City of Albuquerque agreed to store the private collection in a warehouse complex on 6th Street, NW. In exchange for rent-free use of city property, the museum agreed to display its memorabilia in parades and other events for the benefit of the public.

“Bottom line, there has to be a benefit to the general public when we lease (city) property,” Director of Albuquerque’s Municipal Development Pat Montoya said.

It was only after the lease was signed that city officials discovered the private military history organization is a “museum” in name only. For example, the non-profit group has packed the warehouse with so much military stuff it can’t keep track of it all. Despite accumulating thousands of items, board members admit there is no organization to the collection and they do not have an inventory. When asked how the museum could know what’s in the warehouse if they don’t have an inventory, Hartz responded, “It’s a good question.”

Even though the collection includes almost 100 historic military vehicles, museum officials admit they can’t find the paperwork documenting ownership.

“We had titles on everything that we had in the collection at one time, but they have all disappeared,” Hartz said. “I saw paperwork on almost every vehicle that we have at one time when I first started. Is that still here in the building? No, it’s not.”

The non-profit museum generates a little income by loaning vehicles to Hollywood movie productions like “Oppenheimer,” but it’s not enough. Plagued with a dwindling membership, lack of financial resources, shoddy record keeping, disorganization, and dependency on a small, yet dedicated, group of volunteers, the museum is unable to meet its obligations.

“Today, the museum is not in compliance with the City of Albuquerque’s lease,” Albuquerque’s Municipal Development Director Pat Montoya said. “This group … intended well. However, for a number of reasons, they just weren’t able to comply.”

In 2021, museum officials ignored requests for required annual reports, vehicle titles or insurance coverage. However, rather than enforce the lease, city officials looked the other way. That was three years ago.

“The city was at fault here,” Montoya admitted. “This one fell through the cracks and we just did not enforce the policy or the procedures or what was identified in the lease.”

In September last year, the museum was given another deadline to comply. It didn’t. In October, city inspectors cited the organization for fire code violations.

“There was discussions within city government that (the military museum) was completely out of compliance and that we needed to hold them accountable since they were not going to be able to comply,” Montoya said. “The decision was made giving them a 90-day notice that they had to vacate the property.”

In January, the museum moved out and relocated its collection of military artifacts to private properties in Albuquerque and Cabezon.

“This is very unusual,” Montoya said. “In my five years here this is the first time that we’ve had to deal with an organization where we’ve actually evicted them.”

“We have a responsibility to the taxpayers. We have an obligation to protect their money. And when we have a nonprofit that is in a (public) building, there is still a responsibility for them to comply,” he continued.

Nexstar’s KRQE asked Hartz how the future looked for the New Mexico Museum of Military History.

“There’s a pretty black cloud over the top of it right now,” Hartz said in November. Last week, Board President Mike Fuller made it official, confirming the New Mexico Museum of Military History has decided to disband and transfer its entire historic military collection to another non-profit organization, the New Mexico Wounded Warriors Project.

New Mexico does have a bonafide military history museum operated by the state’s Department of Military Affairs in Santa Fe. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, and admission is free.