Findings of Fact, Site Location, and Information on
West Mesa AFS, based on information provided by US Army Corps of Engineers Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) document K06NM0529 of 1996
Site Location
Approximately 12 miles SW of Albuquerque in the Atrisco Land Grant, Bernalillio County, NM
Site History and Findings of Fact
The West Mesa Air Force Station AC&W Site, M-94, was constructed for the Air Force in 1955. DOD improvements to the site included 60 buildings, a swimming pool, a water supply system, and a heating and electrical supply system. A 27-unit family housing unit and waste annex (oxidation ponds) were added to the station four years later, in 1959.
The improvements served West Mesa Air Force Station until July 1969, when the site was declared excess to GSA, and the 4.37-acre radar operations area transferred to the FAA in January 1970.
The remaining 38.08 acres were transferred, along with 54 buildings, to the Office of Economic Opportunity on July 1970, which then quitclaimed the property to three private owners.
9.95 acres of the housing area was then sold to individual private owners.
Current Usage at Time of 1996 Report
The FAA still operates and maintains the facility.
The family housing was sold to private owners who, along with the FAA, continue to use the oxidation pond.
Homeowners in the family housing area belong to the Lost Horizon Community Coop Association. All the houses appear to be present and in various states of repair.
A vacant area lies between the FAA and family support facilities of the former Air Force Station, and this vacant area is unkempt due to owner neglect and lack of maintenance. It is thought the vacant property may have been operated by the State of New Mexico as a drug/alcohol treatment facility in the late 1970s, but the State Health Department yielded no information on the subject.
Other than the family housing units, 6 buildings are still standing on the site, and are physically damaged, some of which have been demolished to their foundations.
Site Map
Site and Location maps were included in the report.