Curry hoping for new extension office

CLOVIS — Curry County submitted a request for a new 4H-Cooperative Extension Office in its 2021 capital outlays to the state this year. The new facility would be constructed at the Curry County Fairgrounds and provide additional space and resources for the expanding extension office.

“What we, and what the county is hoping to do because this is a county request and it's coming from them, is to offer a place where we can do more programming for more diverse audiences and larger audiences. The location where we are now, we're very limited with parking but even the inside space of course is not that large,” said Mindy Turner, county program director. She added the office is at a full staff of six people.

The current location of the Cooperative Extension Service building is on Main Street between the Curry County Detention Center and the DWI/Misdemeanor Compliance Office. In a letter by County Manager Lance Pyle about the project to Governor Lujan-Grisham he cites parking constraints, limited outdoor space, and the frequent outsourcing of other buildings for programs as reasons for a new CES facility.

“It would enhance our fairgrounds, and it would meet the CES needs with added programing space,” Pyle said. “The site where it could be constructed has an abundance of outdoor space for workshops, camps, access to livestock facilities, and they'll have adequate parking.”

Turner said that while there is a building at the fairgrounds that the extension office sometimes uses for workshops, it's not necessarily equipped for the types of programs they hope to do.

“It's a nice space, a big open space, if you were just doing activities with kids. But the idea behind the new facility is that we would have things like a demonstration kitchen,” she said.

Turner said that the CES currently hosts nutrition programs for senior citizens and low-income households, both of which would be improved upon by having a kitchen space to work in. Other services which operate within the CES include the 4-H Youth and Development program, agriculture and horticulture, family health and wellness, and economic development.

Pyle sent a letter Dec. 4 to outline the plans for the facility. The county hopes to include an auditorium for various trainings and programs, a demonstration kitchen, offices and other necessary spaces. After submitting the plan, Pyle said the county met with positive remarks from both legislators and the governor.

The facility is expected to cost about $1.2 million, $600,000 of which the county is asking to fund which they will meet with their own $600,000.

“Last year we submitted a capital outlay request for it and was successful. We received $1,087,500 but it got vetoed. So that's why we're bringing it back,” Pyle said. “The way the economy shifted there with oil prices, COVID, all of that, that was one of the projects that got vetoed. Our legislators recognize the importance and need, the community supports this need, and we're very optimistic that we can get the $1.2 million needed to make it happen.”

Curry County has discussed the idea of a new CES office for about four years.