A Quay County judge has issued a temporary restraining order against several board members of the New Mexico Route 66 Museum in Tucumcari, barring them from removing or transferring any museum property, following serious allegations of mismanagement, unauthorized actions, and potential fraud.
The restraining order, granted Wednesday by the Quay County District Court, comes after the museum’s abrupt closure in late July and mounting concerns about the fate of its collection of historic artifacts and antiques. The museum, which opened in 2012 and has operated from the Fort Bascom Room inside the Tucumcari Convention Center, has been a local attraction celebrating the history and legacy of the iconic Route 66 highway.
According to court documents, museum founder Warren Frost filed the emergency request for the restraining order, claiming that unless the court intervened, the museum faced "immediate and irreparable injury" from the board members’ alleged plans to disperse the museum's property out of state.
Allegations of Unauthorized Decisions
Frost’s complaint names board members Dave Shine, Eric Shine, Ken Christianson, and Flora Cordova as defendants. He accuses them of acting unilaterally to shutter the museum, distribute its assets, and bypass both proper legal procedures and other board members in the process.
“The defendants have not only failed to consult the full board,” Frost alleged, “but have taken steps to liquidate or relocate museum artifacts without a vote or formal dissolution of the nonprofit.”
He further claimed that one board member was never even informed of the alleged plan to shut down the museum, violating both legal requirements for nonprofit governance and basic organizational transparency.
City Involvement and Lease Issues
The controversy appears to have been brewing for months. Frost said the City of Tucumcari raised red flags earlier this year regarding the museum’s management. Chief among the concerns: the museum had not paid rent in years and lacked a current lease agreement for its use of city-owned space.
At a City Commission meeting on July 22, the city had planned to discuss a potential new lease arrangement with Dave and Eric Shine. However, the Shines reportedly failed to appear, and shortly afterward, the museum closed its doors without public notice.
Frost contends that in the days that followed, the defendants began removing artifacts—many of which were on loan or donated by Route 66 enthusiasts—without notifying the city or the full board. He believes these items were placed in undisclosed facilities around Tucumcari, with the eventual goal of moving them out of state.
Legal Response and Court Order
In response, Judge Lisa Chavez of the Quay County District Court granted Frost's request for a temporary restraining order. The order specifically prohibits the named board members from removing any museum property from the Fort Bascom Room or transferring any tangible assets from Quay County.
"These items represent not just property, but the cultural and historical identity of Route 66 in New Mexico," Frost said in a written statement following the ruling. "We owe it to the public, and to the donors who entrusted their artifacts to this museum, to protect them from disappearing under suspicious circumstances."
The restraining order will remain in effect until further court proceedings can determine the legality of the board members’ actions and the museum’s future.
What Comes Next
The court is expected to schedule a hearing in the coming weeks to evaluate the merits of Frost’s claims and determine whether the temporary order should become a longer-term injunction. In the meantime, city officials have not commented on the situation, but records show they are monitoring the legal proceedings closely.
Local residents and museum supporters say they are shocked by the sudden closure and concerned about what will happen to the collection, which includes historic signage, memorabilia, and antique vehicles tied to the Route 66 story.
