By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     CAMPO — While efforts to convert an old military base in Campo into a state historical park have fallen apart, project planners are still seeking a historical designation on the site. At a workshop held in Campo last Thursday, June 1, project planners and consultants met with residents to talk about the latest plans to preserve Camp Lockett.
"Converting the land to a state park is really what got this moving," said Camp Lockett project manager Patrick McDonough. "That was something that was looked into for a while and the state and the county were working together on that."
     According to McDonough, county and state researchers came out to the site and conducted assessment studies on all of the buildings. They found that many of the buildings on the site, which were constructed in 1940, contain asbestos. Another big obstacle is the cleanup of munitions fragments, and unexploded rounds.
     An earlier number released by the county parks department showed that the cleanup of about 200 acres of the former 7,100-acre installation, 500 of which is owned by the county, could cost as much as $3.5 million, according to parks staff.
     "The state’s really not in a position to take over the land right now for a state park, but we’re still moving forward," McDonough said. "The good thing that came out of all of this is that the county was able to designate the area as a historical landscape district."
     Last year, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, voted to spend $150,000 for consultants to apply to have the site added to the National Register of Historic Places. The vote by supervisors, in May of last year, allotted $75,000 from the District 2 community projects funds and $75,000 in Land Use and Environment Group Management Reserves, to retain consultants to research and prepare the application.
     "Dianne Jacob gave this money herself, specifically for this project, from her discretionary funds, to keep the project moving," McDonough said.
     Since that time, the county has hired ASM Affiliates, a cultural resources firm, to create the report for the historical designation. ASM specializes in archaeological and historical studies for compliance with local, state, and federal environmental requirements.
     Project planners envision a two-pronged approach to their efforts: The first is the effort to get Camp Lockett on the national register for historical cultural landscapes.
     "This would put Camp Lockett on the map, with national recognition, as a historical site," said Bill Manley, project manager for ASM. "And it could also open up more grant and funding opportunities to get the project going."
The second effort is to create a concept plan for the restoration of the area, how that should be done, what would be incorporated into the historical aspect and what the community wants.
     "This is where these community input opportunities really help," Manley said. "We know that there is lots of local flair to contribute and add to the historical aspect of the area."
     Residents and planners discussed the Campo railroad museum, the nearby cultural Native American sites and other military history of the area.
     "We’ll be able to get all these other aspects of history from the area," Manley said. "We’ll be gathering data on the entire area — the railroad, the museum — all of this other history is going to be collected as it relates to our focus point, Camp Lockett."
     According to Manley, historians have been studying the area for the past few months, trying to collect information and resources.
     "Not only do we want to learn about the area from you, we want you to learn about this process from us," Manley said. "So that you will have the knowledge to stand up, in front of the board of supervisors, if need be, and say, ‘this is really important, this needs to be done, and let me tell you why’.”
     While residents are becoming their own political force, other county politicians have also taken notice. At the meeting Thursday, representatives from Jacob’s office and Congressman Bob Filner’s office were sitting in, as well as members of the Camp Lockett Foundation, a group compiling the history of African American soldiers at the site.
     This workshop was the first of three planned for the project. Planners expect to have a draft national register nomination package completed in June to bring back before residents in July.
     They then expect to have a revised draft for early September, and a third public input workshop in late October. By late November of this year, planners expect to have a 100 percent completed national register nomination.
"This is long term planning," McDonough said. "There’s no available funds to do anything, just yet, but we’re laying the groundwork."
     "Our primary job is to get Camp Lockett on the National Historical Register," Manley said. "The specifics of how that gets done are subject to a lot of red tape and possible problems: some of them are political some of them are technical, some are historical, some are physical."
     "The national registry project is certainly not going to be the only, or final telling of history here," Manley said. "We won’t realistically be able to tell the whole story. We won’t even be close, but we want to tell enough of it so that people recognize and realize that this is important."
     The effort to preserve Camp Lockett, now 15 years in the making, grew out of a 50th anniversary celebration at the site in 1991, when Mountain Empire Historical Society President Roger Challberg took up the cause. Since that time, MEHS has spearheaded the effort to create a historical park on the site.
     When built in 1941, Camp Lockett originally housed the 11th Cavalry of the U.S. Army, which was charged with protecting the U.S.-Mexico border during the war. As fighting waged in Europe, the unit was soon shipped out and two entirely African-American cavalry units moved in.
     At Camp Lockett, soldiers patrolled the border and protected the area's water supply. Worn uniforms, leather boots and personal possessions, now on display at the Gaskill Brothers' Stone Store in Campo, tell tales of riding horseback along miles of dusty border.
     In early 1944, the army decided it no longer needed Camp Lockett and it became an Army hospital and a prisoner-of-war camp housing German and Italian soldiers, until its closure in 1946.
     "Obtaining a national historic designation for the site is an important first step toward the eventual creation of a public park, where the stories of Camp Lockett can be kept alive," Jacob said.
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