Sunshine Building, Music venue and commercial building in downtown Albuquerque, United States
The Sunshine Building is a six-story, concrete-framed structure at the southeast corner of Second Street and Central Avenue in downtown Albuquerque. It is faced with marble on the ground floor and yellow brick above, with Renaissance Revival details including decorative brickwork, pilasters, a heavy cornice, and a balustraded parapet. The building is 85 feet tall with a footprint of 75 by 140 feet, and its ground-floor commercial space and five floors of offices wrap around the central theater.
The Sunshine Building was built in 1923–24 by Italian-American businessman Joseph Barnett on the site of the 1881 White Elephant adobe saloon and gambling hall. Designed by the El Paso firm Trost & Trost, it opened on May 1, 1924, with a screening of Scaramouche and was considered Albuquerque's first movie palace. A 1983 demolition proposal for a Festival Marketplace was abandoned after the "Save the Sunshine" campaign, and the theater became a live music venue in 1990.
The theater opened on May 1, 1924, with a screening of Scaramouche starring Ramón Novarro, and was billed as Albuquerque's first movie palace. Its name comes from the Sunshine Theater, which operated mainly as a cinema until the 1980s and has hosted live music since 1990. The building also housed F. D. Fogg and Company jewelers from 1948 to 1985.
The building on Central Avenue in the heart of the city is easily accessible and offers different levels for spectators and visitors. The interior has varied areas with views from the floor level and from the raised balcony sections.
The Sunshine Building was long noted for what was believed to be the last manually operated elevator in New Mexico, serving the five floors of offices above the theater. The building's two blank side walls, built to await neighboring structures, stood exposed until the Century Theatres Downtown was erected alongside in 2001.
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