SEPT
2O, 2015
A couple of decades of extraordinary growth
have brought some innovative, amazing and sometimes controversial architecture
to the Mesilla Valley. But there are two buildings that seem, more than any
others, to embody the corazon y alma — the heart and soul — of our community.
The oldest was, alas, long gone when I first
visited Las Cruces in the 1980s. But I doubt that a week has gone by since I
moved here, more than two decades ago, when I have not heard at least one
person mourn its passing.
The lovely old St. Genevieve’s Church is on
many people’s minds this summer, as its monument, a kind of comforting ghost
silhouette, was moved to make way for the new downtown plaza. The victim of
structural problems and a different philosophy of progress in the mid-20th
century, St. Genevieve’s is gone but apparently never forgotten. I’ve only seen
photographs, but I’ve come to understand its importance by the stories you’ve
told me and the emotions you’ve shared when you talk about its passing.
Luckily, the other building dear to our
hearts and souls has not only survived, but prospered.
That would have been hard to predict in the
mid-1990s, when I was walking the yellow brick road on what was then the
Downtown Mall, trying to get a feel for the history and potential of my new
home.
The truth is, my first view of the Rio Grande
Theatre was discouraging. It would be another decade before visionaries, aided
and abetted by historians, would carefully peel off the theater’s ugly facade
and discover the graceful arch and remnants of beautiful tile work and period plaster
motifs that we know today.
Back then, the old theater, still screening
the occasional second-run movie, was surrounded by trash, including cigarette
butts and liquor bottles, and one of the likely contributors of the skid row
decor was sleeping it off nearby.
I was already a fan of the Las Cruces
Farmers & Crafts Market, then centered north of Las Cruces Avenue on what
most of us considered the “best” (and safest) block of the Downtown Mall. And,
I suspect like most of us, that was where I stayed, except for a rare, and only
in bright daylight, run for a Day’s green chile cheeseburger, or a purchase at
The Popular, then a beloved but rapidly fading small department store.
When Heather Pollard told me about the
generous offer of two sisters (Jan Seale Clute and Carolyn Muggenburg) to
donate their portion of the theater, I felt more optimistic than I should have,
after a decade of efforts to spruce up challenging Downtown Mall area that one
of my cynical colleagues had termed “the graveyard of high hopes.”
But by then, I knew Las Cruces and Heather,
and I’d seen what Irene Oliver-Lewis had managed to do to save and resurrect
Court Junior High into what became Alma d’art High School for the Arts and
Court Youth Center. I’d experienced planning sessions with several citizen
dreamers and then-Mayor Ruben Smith. I realized that it might take a while to
manifest a community dream. But if it’s a project that takes a village, it was
clear that Las Cruces has what it takes.
I didn’t know then that it was one of the
oldest surviving two-story adobe theaters in the nation. By the time I attended
the black tie opening in 2005, I wasn’t really surprised how beautiful the
restoration had turned out. Or that the gala outdid anything I’d experienced as
an arts council executive and erstwhile party planner in wealthy Palm Beach,
Fla.
After all, we had talented composer Bob Diven
to create the RGT’s own symphonic-caliber theme and amazing singers, musicians
and dancers to christen the theater, multi-award-winning filmmakers to
immortalize its history and a crew including Tony-Award winning playwright Mark
Medoff to stage its reopening. Read about all that on E1 of today’s Sun-News and learn
more about the upcoming anniversary celebration on this page.
And plan to come out and enjoy a three-day
celebration of the 10th anniversary of a Las Cruces milagro. It’s amazing what
we can do, when we value our culture and heritage, and work together to
preserve and enrich what we have for new generations.
S. Derrickson Moore may be reached
at dmoore@lcsun-news.com, @derricksonmoore on Twitter and Tout, or call
575-541-5450.
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