KiMo Theater
Encyclopedia
The KiMo Theatre is a theatre
located at 423 Central Avenue
NW in downtown
Albuquerque, New Mexico
and it is probably the city's best-known landmark. It was built in 1927 in the extravagant Art Deco
-Pueblo Revival Style architecture
, which is a blend of adobe
building styles (rounded corners and edges), decorative motifs from indigenous cultures, and the soaring lines and linear repetition found in American Art Deco
architecture.
The KiMo was conceived by entrepreneur Oreste Bachechi and designed for him by Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers
architecture firm, who conducted an extensive investigation into the cultures and building styles of the Southwest before submitting his design. The theater is a three-story stucco building with the stepped massing characteristic of native pueblo
architecture, as well as the recessed spandrels and strong vertical thrust of Art Deco
skyscrapers. Both the exterior and interior of the building incorporate a variety of indigenous
motifs
, like the row of terra cotta
shields above the third-floor windows.
The name "KiMo" (literally translated as "mountain lion" in Tewa
, and sometimes loosely translated as "king of its kind") was supplied by Isleta Pueblo
Governor Pablo Abeita
, who won $50 for his suggestion.
By 1977, the theater had fallen into disrepair but was saved from the wrecking ball when voters approved a plan for the City of Albuquerque to purchase the structure. It has undergone several phases of continuing restoration to return it to its former glory and is once again open to the public for performances. The most recent preservation was completed in 2000 with the installation of new seating and carpet, main stage curtain, new tech booth, lighting positions hid between and behind "vigas" on the ceiling, and a re-creation of the KiMo's original proscenium arch.
The KiMo Theatre is rumored to be haunted by the ghost
of Bobby Darnall, a six-year old boy killed when a water heater in the theater's lobby exploded in 1951. The theater staff maintains a space in a backstage stairwell for gifts and offerings in an attempt to "appease the spirit." Some claim to have actually seen Bobby's ghost, clad in jeans and a striped shirt. An investigation by Benjamin Radford
turned up evidence contradicting the origins of the haunting.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
located at 423 Central Avenue
Central Avenue (Albuquerque)
Central Avenue is a major east-west street in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which historically served as the city's main thoroughfare and principal axis of development. It runs through many of Albuquerque's oldest neighborhoods, including Downtown, Old Town, Nob Hill, and the University of New Mexico...
NW in downtown
Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is where a large number of the city's highrise buildings are located, as well as being the center of government and business for the region....
Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and it is probably the city's best-known landmark. It was built in 1927 in the extravagant Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
-Pueblo Revival Style architecture
Pueblo Revival Style architecture
The Pueblo Revival style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States which draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions in New Mexico. The style developed at the turn of the 20th century and reached its greatest popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, though it...
, which is a blend of adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
building styles (rounded corners and edges), decorative motifs from indigenous cultures, and the soaring lines and linear repetition found in American Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
architecture.
The KiMo was conceived by entrepreneur Oreste Bachechi and designed for him by Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers
Boller Brothers
Boller Brothers, also spelled as Boller Bros., was an architectural firm based in Kansas City, Missouri which specialized in theater design in the Midwest of the United States during the first half of the 20th century...
architecture firm, who conducted an extensive investigation into the cultures and building styles of the Southwest before submitting his design. The theater is a three-story stucco building with the stepped massing characteristic of native pueblo
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
architecture, as well as the recessed spandrels and strong vertical thrust of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
skyscrapers. Both the exterior and interior of the building incorporate a variety of indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
motifs
Motif (art)
In art, a motif is an element of a pattern, an image or part of one, or a theme. A motif may be repeated in a design or composition, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other...
, like the row of terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
shields above the third-floor windows.
The name "KiMo" (literally translated as "mountain lion" in Tewa
Tewa language
Tewa is a Kiowa–Tanoan language spoken by Pueblo people, mostly in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico north of Santa Fe. The 1980 census counted 1,298 speakers, almost all of whom are bilingual in English...
, and sometimes loosely translated as "king of its kind") was supplied by Isleta Pueblo
Isleta Village Proper, New Mexico
Isleta Village Proper is a census-designated place in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 496 at the 2000 census...
Governor Pablo Abeita
Pablo Abeita
Pablo Abeita was the governor of Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico, United States, during the long serving period of his long term friend, Anton Docher, "The Padre of Isleta"....
, who won $50 for his suggestion.
By 1977, the theater had fallen into disrepair but was saved from the wrecking ball when voters approved a plan for the City of Albuquerque to purchase the structure. It has undergone several phases of continuing restoration to return it to its former glory and is once again open to the public for performances. The most recent preservation was completed in 2000 with the installation of new seating and carpet, main stage curtain, new tech booth, lighting positions hid between and behind "vigas" on the ceiling, and a re-creation of the KiMo's original proscenium arch.
The KiMo Theatre is rumored to be haunted by the ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
of Bobby Darnall, a six-year old boy killed when a water heater in the theater's lobby exploded in 1951. The theater staff maintains a space in a backstage stairwell for gifts and offerings in an attempt to "appease the spirit." Some claim to have actually seen Bobby's ghost, clad in jeans and a striped shirt. An investigation by Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer, former editor-in-chief of the Spanish-language magazine Pensar, which was published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine Skeptical Briefs newsletter, Discovery News, LiveScience.com...
turned up evidence contradicting the origins of the haunting.
External links
- The KiMo Theatre (City of Albuquerque Website)
- The KiMo Theatre's 'ghost' page (City of Albuquerque Website)