The Roswell City Council voted to allow the New Mexico Historical Air Museum to enter into a three‑year lease for land adjacent to the Roswell Industrial Air Center, approving the agreement unanimously.

The lease begins in October 2025 and runs through September 2028, according to the motion adopted at the Aug. 9 meeting. Under the plan presented to the council, the museum will construct a towway that will permit retired, civilian aircraft to be towed from the airport’s runway to display space on the privately owned parcel. Councilor Hildebrand moved the measure; Councilor Johnson seconded it. The council recorded a unanimous vote in favor.

Nut graf: Councilors and museum representatives said the project is intended to boost tourism and display aircraft that would otherwise be retired out of service. Museum counsel described the lease and towway as short‑term infrastructure needed to move airframes from the runway to the display site; after the lease term the towway would become airport property.

Attorney representing the museum described how the project will operate. He told councilors that engines — the heaviest components — are expected to be removed before the final tow to the display area: "When it is being towed toward the fence and through the fence, it will lack the engine," he said. He also told the council the parcel included in the lease is about 166,000 square feet and that the land itself is privately owned in the county, not inside city limits.

Councilor Hildebrand said the museum will add to the local tourism base and thanked city and county staff who advised the project. Airport staff had been involved in preliminary discussions and the presenter said the FAA and airport representatives had reviewed operational impacts and raised no objections during the presentation. Museum counsel also described the organization as a New Mexico nonprofit planning mostly outdoor displays of civilian aircraft dating from World War II through later decades.

Ending: Councilors did not set a separate public hearing at the meeting; staff will execute the lease and related agreements and return to council if amendments are required. The approved lease authorizes the towway construction and the temporary occupancy described in the motion.