stripes

 

The empty storefront on Main Street makes an interesting study of stripes and shadows.

 

Main Street

Clovis, New Mexico

1.2.2014

I be here

 

 

Just as a camera does not make a photographer, a spray can does not a sign painter make. For lack of a descriptive sign, I have no clue what kind of business this is just across the tracks from the main highway in Clovis.  I wonder if the proprietor is closed up inside and one has to call to be admitted; if so, the password isn't too secret if it's painted on the door.  Or perhaps he's at the beer joint or pool hall and if you need him, just  call.  In any case, he should read this blog entry on "How to create a professional sign with a can of spray paint."

 

Across the tracks

Clovis, New Mexico

1.2.2014



high rise

 

When built in 1931, the ten-story Clovis Hotel was touted as the tallest building between Albuquerque and Dallas earning the nickname "Skyscraper of the Plains."  The hotel combined art-deco exterior ornamentation with southwestern Indian motifs. Each of the 114 rooms had a modern bathroom with hot and cold running water, a telephone, and an overstuffed Murphy bed. The elevator was the first in southeastern New Mexico; the lower floor housed KICA, the first radio station in town; and the post-Prohibition ballroom welcomed Louis Armstrong, Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Hank Williams.  Just across the street from the train depot, the hotel fell in decline when Santa Fe discontinued passenger service.  After receiving a National Register of Historic Places designation in 1894, the hotel closed in 1985 and sat empty for decades.  Just recently the adaptive reuse of the historic hotel has turned it into lofts -- joining the Main Street revitalization efforts of Clovis.

 

Clovis Hotel

201 Main Street

Clovis, New Mexico
1.2.2014


elvis sighting

 

A mural of rock and rock greats adorns a wall in downtown Clovis.  Elvis is bookended by Buddy on the left and Roy Orbison way on the right.  I seem to run into Elvis in lots of different places so I did a google search on "Elvis mural."  11,300 pictures appeared (OK some were duplicates) but Elvis is everywhere!  I couldn't determine how many towns were represented but resolve to keep a better record of where I spy Elvis.

 

Card Crazy

522 Main

Clovis, New Mexico

1.2.2014



mesa theater

I headed out west this morning with a full tank of gas and a charged lithium battery seeking what I could see.  I ended up in downtown Clovis dragging Main Street.  A quick stop at the Norman & Vi Petty Rock & Roll Museum was very enjoyable.  One of downtown theaters which the Downtown Revitalization Committee has plans for is the Mesa Theater. Built in 1925 to show movies, the Mesa  later became home to local music legend Norman Petty’s radio station and recording studio. LeAnn Rimes recorded her hit “Blue” at the theater in 1994 when she was 12 years old.  The Committee would like to turn the Mesa Theater into the Norman and Vi Petty Performing Arts Center. Like most projects it requires money.

Mesa Theater
206 Main
Clovis, New Mexico