Belen to hold Memorial Day ceremony, break ground on veterans center

Belen will use Memorial Day morning to launch Phase 1 of its Veterans Visitors Center at Eagle Park, turning a holiday observance into the first visible step of a project city leaders have framed as more than a ceremonial monument. The event is set for Monday, May 25, at 10:00 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial at Eagle Park, 305 Eagle Lane, and the city calendar lists it as running until 1:00 p.m.

The city said the groundbreaking will follow the Memorial Day observance, tying remembrance directly to construction at a site that already anchors public gatherings in Belen. The program lists Wayne Gallegos as master of ceremonies, VFW Post 2387 for the presentation of the colors and honors, Sgt. Jarod Maples for the presentation of honors, Secundino Baldonado for Taps, Pastor Rudy Espinoza for the blessing, American Legion Post 81 and Councilor Frank F. Ortega for closing remarks.

What Belen is building is intended to be more than a shell beside the memorial. Local memorial materials describe the SPC Henry Byrd III Veterans Visitor Center as part of the memorial itself, with educational resources, exhibits and a place for personal reflection. That gives the project a specific civic purpose: to serve veterans, families visiting Eagle Park and residents who want a deeper connection to the memorial’s story.

Phase 1, according to a city bid notice released in April, is an 896-square-foot addition to the existing Veterans Event Center at 305 Eagle Lane, along with new site features. The city has already said new picnic tables, updated play equipment and other improvements at Eagle Park and the Veterans Center were funded through State Capital Outlay, showing that the site has been built up in pieces rather than through one large construction push.

The longer funding trail reaches back several years. State capital-outlay records show Belen sought $566,000 in 2021 for veterans memorial work at Eagle Park and $350,000 in 2023 for veterans’ memorial improvements there. Local memorial materials also say the project began with $70,000 in legislative appropriation funding in October 2016 and later received another $300,000 in state funds. The Belen Veterans Memorial was ribbon-cut in June 2019, making Monday’s groundbreaking part of a multi-year effort to expand the site into a fuller veterans campus.

Belen also announced there will be no trash collection on Memorial Day, with routes delayed by one day during the holiday week, a reminder that the observance will affect city operations as well as the public calendar. For residents, the real measure of the project will come after the speeches end: whether the new center develops into a useful place for education, reflection and visitation, or remains another symbolic milestone at Eagle Park.