The KiMo is one of the coolest buildings along Route 66 in Albuquerque. Built in 1926 in a mish mash of the Pueblo style with Art Deco touches (known as Pueblo Deco -- really) the KiMo has aged gracefully and still contributes to this historic city's eclectic arts scene.
From the City of Albuquerque's website: (
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"The KiMo Theatre, a Pueblo Deco picture palace, opened on September 19, 1927.
Pueblo Deco was a flamboyant, short-lived architectural style that fused the spirit of the Native American cultures of the Southwest with the exuberance of Art Deco. Pueblo Deco appeared at a time when movie-mad communities were constructing film palaces based on exotic models such as Moorish mosques and Chinese pavilions.
Native American motifs appeared in only a handful of theaters; of those few, the KiMo is the undisputed king.
Oreste Bachechi
The genius behind the KiMo was Oreste Bachechi, a motivated entrepreneur from humble origins. Oreste Bachechi came to the United States in 1885 and set up a business in a tent near the railroad tracks in Albuquerque.
Bachechi's fortunes expanded with the city's growth; he became a liquor dealer and proprietor of a grocery store while his wife Maria ran a dry goods store in the Elms Hotel. By 1919, the Bachechi Amusement Association operated the Pastime Theatre with Joe Barnett. In 1925, Oreste Bachechi decided to achieve "an ambition, a dream that has been long in realization," by building his own theater, one that would stand out among the Greek temples and Chinese pavilions of contemporary movie mania.
Bachechi envisioned a unique, Southwestern style theater, and hired Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers to design it. The Bollers had designed a Wild West-Rococo-style theater in San Antonio and a Spanish cathedral cum Greco-Babylonian interior in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Pueblo Influence
Carl Boller traveled throughout New Mexico, visiting the pueblos of Acoma and Isleta, and the Navajo Nation. After months of research, Carl Boller submitted a watercolor rendering that pleased Oreste Bachechi.
The interior was to include plaster ceiling beams textured to look like logs and painted with dance and hunt scenes, air vents disguised as Navajo rugs, chandeliers shaped like war drums and Native American funeral canoes, wrought iron birds descending the stairs and rows of garlanded buffalo skulls with eerie, glowing amber eyes.
None of the designs were chosen at random. Each of the myriad images of rain clouds, birds and swastikas had historical significance. The Navajo swastika is a symbol for life, freedom and happiness.
Like its abstract symbols, color, too, was part of the Indian vocabulary. Yellow represents the life-giving sun, white the approaching morning, red the setting sun of the West and black the darkening clouds from the North. The crowning touch was the nine large wall murals painted in oil by Carl Von Hassler. Working from 20 foot high scaffolding, Von Hassler spent months on his creations.
The theater, which cost $150,000, was completed in less than a year. The elaborate Wurlitzer pipe organ that accompanied the silent films of the day was an extra $18,000.
Opening Night
On opening night, an overflow crowd watched performances by representatives from nearby Indian pueblos and reservations. The performers, reported the New Mexico State Tribune in an advance story, included "numerous prominent tribesman of the Southwest who will perform for the audience mystic rites never before seen on the stage."
Isleta Pueblo Governor Pablo Abeita won a prize of $50, a magnificent sum for the time, for naming the new theater. Reflecting the optimism of the time, "KiMo," is a combination of two Tiwa words meaning "mountain lion" but liberally interpreted as "king of its kind".
Vivian Vance, who gained fame as Lucille Ball's sidekick in the "I Love Lucy" series, performed at the KiMo. The theater also hosted such stars as Sally Rand, Gloria Swanson, Tom Mix and Ginger Rogers. When the theater was packed, the balcony—which spans the east to west walls without support and was designed to give and sway—would drop four to eight inches in the middle.
A year after the realization of his dream, Oreste Bachechi died, leaving the management of the KiMo to his sons, who combined vaudeville and out-of-town road shows with movies. Extra revenue came in from a luncheonette and curio shop on either side of the entrance. In later years, the Kiva-Hi, and second floor restaurant, and KGGM radio, housed on the second and third floors, were major tenants.
Preserving a Treasure
A large fire in the early 1960's nearly destroyed the stage and severely damaged adjacent areas at the front of the auditorium. The KiMo fell into further disrepair following the exodus from downtown that so many American cities experienced in the 60's and 70's. Slated for destruction, the KiMo was saved in 1977 when the citizens of Albuquerque voted to purchase this unrivaled palace to movies and one man's dream.
Restoration of the KiMo
Polishing a Gem
In 1977, Albuquerque voters approved a $324,000 bond to purchase the KiMo Theatre, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
After voters rejected a second bond to provide matching funds to a federal grant for the complete renovation of the theatre, the City of Albuquerque provided $1.1 million for a partial renovation.
Architect Harvey Hoshour and his partner Dan Pearson led the first phase of the KiMo's renovation. The KiMo's trademark buffalo skulls were restored to their original colors. Mission light fixtures on the façade were replicated from old photographs. Door handles modeled after Kachinas were duplicated from the one remaining handle.
Balcony & Murals
The balcony railing in the lobby, composed of wrought iron bird figures, was 11 inches too short to meet modern safety codes. Harvey Hoshour devised a novel solution to retain the railings' original look. Additional metal was inserted in the birds' necks and legs to make the railing taller. The talented craftsman who performed the work was none other than the grandson of the man who created the original railing.
Another phase of restoration, at a cost of $35,000, focused on the Carl Von Hassler murals. Friends of the KiMo raised about $10,000, with additional funding contributed by the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund and the Albuquerque Community Foundation. Anne Rosenthal, an art preservationist from the San Francisco Bay area, led the team who worked on the murals. Accompanying her was her husband Michael Wolfe, and Greg Thomas and Michael Dunn.
Restoring Originals
After years of planning, a second major phase of renovation was begun in the spring of 1999. Completed in the summer of 2000, this most recent renovation cost approximately $2 million and was funded by a City of Albuquerque general obligation bond, lodgers' tax revenues, and One Percent for Art Program funds. The extensive restoration project was led by the architectural firm of Kells and Craig. The Konkright Center for Cultural Materials of Santa Fe was hired to restore original artwork throughout the facility.
The original proscenium arch including elaborate Pueblo-Deco designs that had been destroyed in a 1960's fire was replicated. Plaster buffalo skulls, turtles, and other Native American symbols were copied from the originals and once again decorate the main proscenium arch. New stage lighting positions were created within other restored areas. The original grand drape was also replicated, and includes medallions and hand-painted details.
The entire ceiling in the auditorium was carefully cleaned, repaired and restored. Conservationists worked for months atop scaffolding far above the auditorium floor to restore the spectacular "environmental" artwork. Vigas (roof beams) decorated with Pueblo Indian motifs seem to open onto a starry night sky. Chandeliers modeled after Native American funerary canoes hang above the audience.
Modern Touches
Proscenium 2000New acoustic wall treatments were applied in the auditorium. During the removal of the old acoustic materials, original artwork depicting Navajo Yei figures and sandpaintings was uncovered. Although the originals were too damaged to be repaired, the images were carefully photographed and replicated by art conservationists on the new acoustic wall fabric.
New carpet and flooring were installed throughout the KiMo. When the old carpeting was removed from the lobby stairs and mezzanine, the original patterned tile was exposed. The tile was cleaned, repaired and restored to its original appearance. Two new restrooms were installed in the upper lobby in the same location as original restrooms.
Stage 2000The KiMo's seating was entirely replaced to meet modern building and accessibility codes. The main floor of the auditorium was removed and reconfigured. Restored Pueblo Deco-style seats with custom features were designed to match the KiMo's distinctive architecture. The newly-renovated auditorium now seats 650, with handicapped-accessible seating throughout the main floor.
Electrical upgrades, an enlarged control booth, and a new stage-level accessible dressing room were also part of the 1999-2000 renovation. A new stage ceiling, new rigging hardware, new stage draperies, and new lighting and sound equipment completed the work. Still to be renovated is the stage fly-loft, no longer usable as the result of a 1960's fire, and the older dressing rooms, including backstage plumbing and electrical upgrades.
The KiMo's second floor business offices were renovated to meet current building and safety codes over the winter of 2000-2001. The third floor office area was renovated in 2002. Work included upgrading plumbing and electrical systems, a new telephone system and new roofing.
Edited by John Arnold, New Mexico Museum of Natural History, with information provided by the KiMo Theatre."