Six Flags to fly over Los Lunas? Don’t believe it

Los Lunas

With rumors running rampant about Six Flags amusement park coming to Los Lunas, it’s time to set the record straight.

There is no truth to talk around the county that a Six Flags will be built at Grasslands west of I-25 and north of NM 6, according to Debbie Evans, vice president of public relations for Six Flags Theme Parks out of Maryland.

“The rumors are unfounded. We have no plans to acquire property in New Mexico,” Evans said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “I have no idea where any sort of chat or rumor may have come from about us opening a property or Six Flags in New Mexico.”

Charles Webb, who is the caretaker of Grasslands, said he hears about the rumor every day. “There’s absolutely no truth to it, and I live here,” he said.

“It’s a wild rumor. If I go to town and I give my address to someone, they always say Six Flags has bought me out. I don’t know how to stop it or whether it can be stopped.”

Webb retired and closed Grasslands, relinquishing the lease to the state, which owns the land.

Diane Huckabee, director of the Los Lunas-Bosque Farms Chamber of Commerce, says she has no clue about how the rumor got started in the first place.

“Lately, during the last couple of months, it’s just taken off. If you look at the facility the size of Dallas’, the Grasslands is not as big as the parking lot there. There’s just not enough room,” she said.

“I don’t think they’d go to an area without a population that would support a facility that size. A lot of people would come for vacations, but they have to run all year long. It would be wonderful, but I just don’t see it happening here.”

Los Lunas Village Councilor Charles Griego said the Six Flags rumor continues to get bigger and bigger as days go by.

“I don’t know if anything like that is seriously being considered,” he said. “It all depends on what the state wants to do. The rumor has sparked a lot of interest. People come up to me and ask me if it’s true. I tell them they know as much as I do.”

Lester Swindle, director of property control for the state, said people have been spreading the Six Flags rumor for the past six years.

“Nothing official has ever been brought to me. It’s a crazy, crazy rumor. End of story,” Swindle said.

“We own a lot of land across the state that is not currently being used. When we have a use for this specific area, we will use it. Until then, it will stay as it is. We don’t have anything planned.”

Although there are no plans to bring Six Flags to New Mexico, Village Administrator Phillip Jaramillo said the possibility of an amusement park is a good idea for Los Lunas.

“This community would be in a situation that lends itself to that kind of business. We’re right next door to a large metro area, where they draw from,” he said.

“Highway six connects with I-40 and I-25 — all these major roads — and the airport is only 20 minutes away. From a strategic location, the Grasslands is a great location. There’s a large amount of acreage, and the land isn’t that expensive. From that perspective, this is a great place for them to come.”

The nearest Six Flags to the Land of Enchantment are located in San Antonio and Denver. “That’s a pretty far distance for people to travel. We could draw from a large region,” Jaramillo said. “I really wish that they would take a serious look at coming here. We have the potential.”