User:RGTMGR/Rio Grande Theatre

The Rio Grande Theatre, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, originally came to life on July 29, 1926 with the opening of the film Mare Nostrum, a silent film directed by Rex Ingram and starring Alice Terry and Antonio Moreno. Built by local entrepreneurs, C.T. Seale and B.G. Dyne, on the site of the old Hacker Hotel, the Rio Grande Theatre is the oldest remaining two-story adobe theatre in the country and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Southwest architect Otto Thorman created the look of the Rio Grande Theatre in the Italian Renaissance Revival style popular in the 1920s and 30s.

Over the years, the Rio Grande Theatre was operated as a movie palace by various corporations, including the Fox West Coast Theatres, Video Independent Theatres and National General. It was also leased/managed by several different families and individuals, including Jimmie Wheeler, Mike Zelesney and Ollie Wilhelm. Still, it continued to be owned by the same two families. Allen Theatres took over the operation of the theatre in 1982 and it became a "second run" theatre until it was officially closed in 1997. It's checkered history includes many changes, including the survival of both an earthquake in the early thirties and a fire in 1933. It is a testament to the determination of Misters Seale and Dyne that, despite the nation's depressed economic state, they chose to bring back the Rio Grande Theatre even more gloriously than before.

The decor of the theatre is outlined in a newspaper article, written in November of 1933, just prior to the reopening: "The redecoration was decidedly of the Spanish baroque style and included white velour wall tapestries with red velvet festoons depicting historical figures: Carlos Rex, Coronado, a Spanish dance, a Spanish padre, an Aztec chief and a Navajo Indian. The grand drape was turquoise velvet with a gold plush valance and gold satin applique and was painted with the figures of caballeros in a falcon scene. There were nine great chandeliers that hung from the main ceiling and the main lobby was decorated with wall paintings and elaborate hangings symbolizing the spirit of the southwest. Color combinations of reds, yellows and blues and gilded heraldic devices were the order of the day."

In 1998, after its final closure, the Rio Grande Theatre was willed to the Dona Ana Arts Council by Mickey Clute and Carolyn Muggenburg, granddaughters of C.T. Seale. Initial renovation soon revealed that a major undertaking would be needed to bring the theatre back to its former glory. Efforts to raise money for the renovation began.It would eventually take seven years and $2.2 million, from private donations as well as federal, state and county money, for the Rio Grande Theatre to re-open on September 16, 2005. The renovation design was executed by architect Ron Nims of Studio D Architects, who was guided by the original blueprints discovered in the archives of the University of Texas, El Paso. The reconstruction was performed by DnD Contractors of Santa Teresa.

Today, the Rio Grande Theatre is a 422-seat, state-of-the-art performing arts facility with a forty-foot fly system, two dressing rooms, a green room, a projection screen, a CYC screen, acoustical panels, refrigerated air, gallery space and a concession area. The upstairs offices, which once housed theatre offices, a doctor's office and the projection room now house the offices of the Dona Ana Arts Council.