Princess Theatre facade ideas presented

Members of the Princess Theatre Task Force on Thursday received a glimpse of several possible facade improvements as part of an incremental plan to bring the long-closed Tucumcari venue back to life.

Artist renderings of the reimagined facade were well-received by task force members. But news that morning of a break-in and damage at the theater cast a pall over the meeting, as did some pointed back-and-forth talk over a lack of communication about the draft of the plan.

The city, which has owned the shuttered theater for more than four decades, earlier this year spent about $200,000 in capital outlay funds to remove lead and asbestos from the building and used another $50,000 to International Art and Art Support Services, with Urban Col.labs and UpSpring as subconsultants, to draft an economic strategy and facade improvements plan for the venue.

The city received another $133,000 in capital outlay funds during most recent session of the New Mexico Legislature.

Art City creator Matt Monahan, a key driver of the Princess Theatre efforts in the past year, said the report aims to present projects to generate revenue and attract investors to eventually restore the century-old venue, closed since the early 1960s after a fire.

He acknowledged renovating the building's interior would cost millions of dollars, and he said the ideas from the contractor are "an interim step."

Monahan said the report would be given to state lawmakers, showing the city has a solid plan in place to make it more attractive for future capital outlay funding.

The presentation, made via videoconference, gave modest-impact to high-impact scenarios - ranging from a facade update, small market and a three-day festival using the facade as a site for light projection for the former. The latter described a bigger annual festival, vacant lots for markets and live music and an interior upgrade of the theater that would make it "the culture hub of Tucumcari."

The modest-impact plan over a three-year period projects two events with a total attendance of 720 people with a $3.3 million local impact and $67,000 in revenue. Over 10 years, it would attract 7,400 people over nine events and generate $6.7 million in local economic impact and $1.8 million in revenue.

The report states a medium-impact plan over 10 years would draw over 14,000 people and generate $8.6 million in local economic impact and $4 million in revenue.

A high-impact plan over 10 years would draw 40,000 people with $14.7 million in impact and $5.3 million in revenue.

Designers took inspiration from the city's Route 66 heritage, neon signs, railroad history, mesas and murals. It also compared Tucumcari to similarly-sized towns of Taos and Marfa, Texas.

Michael DiCarlo of Urban Col.labs showed on City Hall's large-screen television a total five mockups of facade improvements that not only featured new skin on the venue, but LED lighting and lighting projections that would allow it to be "a canvas" for festivals and other events.

The designs were inspired by the original facade, automotive culture, Route 66, celestial bodies and geological formations such as Tucumcari Mountain, local geography and geology, and Tucumcari's railroad history.

Regarding proposed art festivals for the Princess, Connie Loveland of Tucumcari MainStreet suggested the report take data from an annual mural festival in Amarillo.

Loveland also wanted more projected data for the theater's eventual usage with ticketed events. DiCarlo said he had "rough figures" for that but didn't have them available for Thursday's presentation. He said he would add it to the report.

Kristine Olsen of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation and the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce also said renovated theaters in Raton and Dalhart, Texas, also would provide good information for the Princess project.

A printed draft of the plan made available the day before Thursday's meeting didn't contain proposals for the facade improvements. That and other apparent miscommunication before the meeting prompted Loveland and City Clerk Angelica Gray to suggest a more formal structure for future task-force meetings.

Monahan signaled he was reluctant accept the idea, saying he didn't want to "add another layer of bureaucracy" that would slow the process. He later acceded to a plan to assign a secretary to meetings to write down minutes.

Monahan also grew irritated about interruptions from task force members during portions of the presentation.

However, the task force's chairman, former mayor Ralph Moya, voiced optimism. He noted more action has been taken for the Princess Theatre in the past year than since the city took possession of it more than 40 years ago.

"I think we're in a very good position," he said.

The consultant will present additions and revisions to the report during the task force's next meeting.

Any final plan or expenditure must receive final approval from the city commission before proceeding.

After Thursday's meeting, workers were boarding up broken windows in the theater's ticket booth after an apparent break-in the night before.

Assistant city manager Renee Hayoz said later at Thursday night's city commission meeting that the theater had been secured.