Princess Theatre's new funds to renovate offices, facade

Members of the Princess Theatre Task Force said Thursday they likely would use new capital outlay funds for facade improvements and renovating the offices of the long-closed venue.

The organization met shortly after the New Mexico Legislature ended its 30-day session. The city-owned downtown theater on Main Street is due to receive $135,000 in new capital outlay funds if it survives a line-item veto from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The original capital outlay request was $1.5 million.

City manager Paula Chacon said if the Princess’ front offices are renovated, they can be rented out and generate revenue.

Chacon also said a request for proposals has been mailed to several prospective companies to conduct an economic viability study and make facade improvements on the theater.

City Clerk Angelica Gray said Asbestos Experts in Rio Rancho would be “ready to go” to remove lead and asbestos from the site as soon as paperwork issues are resolved. She said she hoped work could begin as soon as this week.

Chacon said she expects that work to take six to eight weeks once it begins.

The city is using about $200,000 from last year’s capital outlay award for the remediation, plus about $50,000 of the remainder for facade improvements and the RFP.

Former mayor Ralph Moya, who presides over the task force, said he wanted to address rumors that reviving the Princess Theatre was not feasible.

He asserted the theater’s overall structure is sound, and its roof is less than 10 years old.

Moya said a resurrected Princess Theatre will help revitalize downtown because Tucumcari lacks a venue for cultural events.

“Once we get it going, we’ll get a lot of events coming down,” Moya said.

Connie Loveland, director of Tucumcari MainStreet, said she’s been in contact with officials in Dalhart, Texas, about its La Rita Theater on how the Princess can “get into the loop” in booking acts with it and other small theaters in Santa Fe and Lubbock.

The Princess Theatre was built by Arch Hurley and partner Gene Hawkins as the H-H Theatre in 1917. They renamed it the Princess Theatre a few years later.

The theater closed in 1962 after a fire and never reopened. The city took over ownership of the theater in the early 1980s.