Delay in plans for a $1B science ghost town raises eyebrows

This artist rendering provided by the Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation shows the $1 billion scientific ghost town

Pegasus Global Holdings' surprise announcement that it was pulling out of plans to build a $1 billion scientific ghost town in eastern New Mexico is stirring skepticism of the private firm's grandiose plans for transforming 15 square miles of this largely rural state into a next-generation research center. Lea County had been working closely with the company after winning the bid to house the Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation. But "when we started pressing for details, that's when they decided to look elsewhere," county manager Mike Gallagher said. Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb said he didn't even know the group was abandoning its plans until he read a news report that followed a late-evening announcement on Friday, July 13. Cobb said he was told the group cited problems with mineral rights on the private land it was trying to acquire. But he said third parties hold mineral rights underneath a lot of New Mexico's land and there are solid legal protections for financial reimbursement if someone decides to exercise them. "From a practical standpoint it's a non-issue," Cobb said. The selection of Lea County was announced with much fanfare at a news conference in May with Gov. Susana Martinez and her economic development secretary, Jon Barela. Plans called for an uninhabited replica of an average, mid-size American city to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets...more