Historical Markers StoppingPoints.com Historical Markers, Sightseeing & Points of Interest Scenic Roads & Points of Interest
About Us | Photo Gallery | Free Widgets | Featured States | Search Site
Register or Edit LoginRegister
Home New Mexico Bernalillo County Albuquerque Historical Markers Kimo Theater
     

Kimo Theater

423 Central Ave., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Telephone: (505) 768-3522

Latitude & Longitude: 35° 5' 6.613296", -106° 39' 8.75628"
  National Register of Historic Places
 
    Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
The KiMo Theatre is one of Albuquerque's best-known landmarks. It was built in 1927 in the iconic Pueblo Deco style, blending adobe building styles (rounded corners and edges), decorative motifs from native American cultures, and the soaring lines and linear repetition found in American Art Deco architecture.

The KiMo concept was created by entrepreneur Oreste Bachechi and then designed for him by Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers architects, who conducted extensive investigations into cultures and building styles of the Southwest before submitting his design. The theater is a 3-story stucco building with the stepped massing hallmark of native pueblo structures, as well as the recessed spandrels and strong vertical thrust of Art Deco skyscrapers. The building's exterior and interior incorporate a variety of indigenous motifs, such as a line of terra cotta shields above the 3rd-floor windows.

The name "KiMo" (literally translated as "mountain lion" in Tewa, and sometimes is loosely translated "king of its kind") was supplied by Isleta Pueblo Governor Pablo Abeita, who won $50 for his suggested name.

By 1977, the theater fell into disrepair but was saved from the demolition after voters approved a plan for the City of Albuquerque to buy the building. Several phases of continuing restoration have been completed to return it to its former glory and it is now once again open to the public for performances.

Kimo Theater was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 02, 1977.
 
StoppingPoints.com Editorial on Kimo Theater:
Name also written as "KiMo Theatre".


Last updated: 10/18/2009 22:56:21
   
     
Image Gallery

 
Kimo Theater Historical Marker Location Map, Albuquerque, New Mexico