Sunshine Building
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The Sunshine Building is a historic six-story building in
downtown Albuquerque Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. It is where a significant number of the city's highrise buildings are located, and is the center of government and business for the Greater Albuq ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
. It was built in 1924 by local theater owner Joseph Barnett and houses the Sunshine Theater as well as commercial space and offices. The Sunshine operated primarily as a movie theater until the 1980s, though it was also equipped for
Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
shows and other live performances. Since 1990 it has operated as a live music venue, hosting many notable acts. The building was listed on the
New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties The New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties is a register of historic and prehistoric properties located in the state of New Mexico. It is maintained by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultura ...
in 1985 and is also an Albuquerque City Landmark. The building was designed by the
El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
firm of Trost & Trost and is of reinforced concrete construction with a facade of yellow brick. The architectural style is
Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
. The building was known for having what was believed to be the last manually operated elevator in New Mexico. One of the building's longest running commercial tenants was F. D. Fogg and Company, a local jeweler which operated there from 1948 to 1985. The company closed in 2004 after 83 years in business. The TV Show ''
In Plain Sight ''In Plain Sight'' is an American drama television series that premiered on the USA Network on June 1, 2008. The series revolves around Mary Shannon ( Mary McCormack), a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, offic ...
'' filmed the exterior of this location, as the fictional office of the US Marshals' Witness Protection Service.


History

The Sunshine Building was built in 1923–24 by Joseph Barnett (1866–1954), an Italian-American businessman who arrived in Albuquerque penniless in 1896 and worked his way up through the saloon and theater business to become one of the city's largest property owners. By the 1920s, Barnett already owned two theaters in the city, the B at 200 West Central and the Lyric at 312 West Central, but planned an even larger one for his new building along with five floors of offices. The building was constructed on the former site of the White Elephant building, a two-story adobe structure dating to 1881 which once housed a popular gambling hall and saloon. The Sunshine Building was designed by the
El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
firm of Trost & Trost, which was also responsible for several other buildings in the immediate area including the Rosenwald Building, Occidental Life Building, and First National Bank Building. The Sunshine Theater opened on May 1, 1924, with a showing of the
Ramón Novarro José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box ...
film ''
Scaramouche Scaramouche () or Scaramouch (; from Italian Scaramuccia , literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of Italian literature). The role combined characteristics of the ...
''. With a seating capacity of 1,200, central heating and cooling, and fireproof reinforced concrete construction, it was advertised as "the most modern and beautiful theater in the southwest" and was considered Albuquerque's first movie palace. The '' Albuquerque Journal'' reported that the opening was a "grand success" with the theater filled to capacity for multiple showings. The theater was equipped for both films and live performances, including the traveling
Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
shows that were popular in the 1920s. The building also contained 73 office rooms on the upper stories and five ground-floor commercial spaces. In 1935, Barnett merged his theater interests with those of the Bachechi family, including the KiMo Theater, which put most of Albuquerque's theaters under the same ownership. By 1952, the chain, Albuquerque Exhibitors, controlled 10 local theaters and had 170 employees. The company leased its theaters in 1956 to the Texas-based Frontier Theaters chain, which was taken over by Commonwealth Theaters in 1967. Commonwealth chose not to renew its lease on the Sunshine when the original lease expired in 1974, citing a lack of customers, and the theater stopped showing first-run films. Later it switched to classic 1930s and 1940s movies, then Spanish-language films. In 1983, the Sunshine Building was proposed for demolition in order to build a "Festival Marketplace" development. Supporters of the project believed it would revitalize the mostly vacant area around First and Central, while preservationists opposed the demolition and organized a "Save the Sunshine" committee. The debate was reported in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's national ''Preservation News'' publication in 1984. Ultimately, the project was abandoned. In 1990, the Sunshine Theater was converted into a live music venue. One of the first acts to perform there was
Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yama ...
(mistakenly identified as "Sound Garden" in the local press) on February 14, 1990. The theater has remained one of Albuquerque's most popular mid-size concert venues and continues to host live music as of 2019.


Architecture

The Sunshine Building is a six-story, concrete-framed structure at the southeast corner of Second Street and Central Avenue. The building is tall and has a footprint of . It is faced with marble on the ground floor and yellow brick on the upper levels. The architecture is usually identified as
Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
, with decorative brickwork and pilasters, a heavy cornice, and a balustraded parapet. The building is further decorated with swags, medallions, and other ornaments. Like the nearby First National Bank Building, the Sunshine Building was constructed with blank walls on two sides to accommodate neighboring structures. with By the time of the 1980s Festival Marketplace controversy, the building was the only structure left on the block and its detractors criticized the "not so handsome" wall greeting traffic entering Downtown. In 2001, the
Century Theatres Century Theatres is a movie theater chain that operates many multiplexes in the western United States, primarily in California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. In its later years, it had expanded into the inter-mountain states, t ...
Downtown building was built next to the Sunshine, obscuring the blank walls. The building has ground-floor commercial space and five floors of offices wrapped around the central theater space. In its original configuration, the theater had 800 orchestra seats and 400 balcony seats, though most of the seating was removed when it was converted for live music use. The
proscenium arch A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
is wide by high, and the fly gallery has a height of from the stage to the grid deck. The balcony is reached from staircases on either side of the theater, with a mezzanine containing restrooms. The office section has a separate entrance lobby opening onto Second Street. The building was notable for having what was believed to be the last manually operated elevator in New Mexico, which was staffed by
elevator operator An elevator operator (North American English), liftman (in Commonwealth English, usually lift attendant), or lift girl (in British English), is a person specifically employed to operate a manually operated elevator. Description Being an effec ...
s until at least 1989.


Sunshine Theater

The Sunshine Theater, which occupies a significant portion of the building, operated as a movie theater from 1924 until the 1980s and has since been remodeled into a popular live music venue. The Sunshine Theater has hosted a number of notable acts such as
The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Mor ...
, Snoop Dogg, Deltron 3030,
Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kr ...
,
The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Ch ...
,
Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout mul ...
,
The Dead Weather The Dead Weather is an American rock supergroup, formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2009. Composed of Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount), Jack White (of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Ag ...
,
Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...
, Modest Mouse, Rancid,
Coheed and Cambria Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), ...
, Awolnation, Cannibal Corpse,
Ratatat Ratatat ( ) is a Brooklyn-based electronic rock duo consisting of Mike Stroud (guitar, melodica, synthesizers, percussion) and producer Evan Mast (bass, synthesizers, percussion). History Beginnings and first album, ''Ratatat'' (2001–2005 ...
,
Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing voca ...
, Pennywise, Hollywood Undead,
Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...
, Nightwish,
Melanie Martinez Melanie Adele Martinez (born April 28, 1995) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Astoria, Queens, and raised in Baldwin, New York, Martinez rose to fame in 2012 after appearing on the American television vocal talent show '' The Voice ...
,
Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...
and
Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produce ...
among others. The Sunshine Theater's set up is an open floor, a large balcony, and a bar that seats a 21 and older audience, in all they accommodate about 1,000 people. The theater is the most popular venue in the Albuquerque metro area to accommodate smaller but still notable acts, many with five or more shows in one month.


References


External links


Sunshine Building
(Emporis) {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Albuquerque, New Mexico Theatres in New Mexico Music venues in New Mexico Commercial buildings in Albuquerque, New Mexico Office buildings completed in 1924 New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Landmarks in Albuquerque, New Mexico Trost & Trost buildings Buildings and structures on U.S. Route 66 Albuquerque, New Mexico