About the Orpheum Theater

The Orpheum building was constructed in 1898 and was first known as the Futrelle building, owned by W.V. Futrelle and home to the Futrelle Furniture Company. The Hotel Denver was located on the second floor.

In 1911, most of the building was destroyed in a fire, but it was rebuilt as an Orpheum Theater, featuring motions pictures and vaudeville acts. The building operated as a theater only for a few years, but it saw many incarnations afterwards: it was a dancehall, the Viaduct Garage, a skating rink, Inter-City Bus Depot, and Superior Furniture. Superior Furniture remained open from 1952 to 1977, and during that time, the apartments upstairs were rebranded the “Superior Apartments.” After the store’s closure, the lower level of the building remained vacant while the apartments above remained occupied.

Artist Martha Trolin purchased the building in 1980 and did an extensive renovation, as the building had fallen into disrepair. Trolin operated the building as an artist community, and it became known as “Five- Hundred Second Street.” It contained living and studio space, art galleries and a performance space for many years.

Homewise purchased the historic building in 2017 and completed an extensive renovation. The building now serves as the Albuquerque Homeownership Center and Orpheum Community Hub. The renovation included performance space in the rear of the building, upgrades to affordable apartments on the second floor, and gallery space to honor the building’s former identity.

The Orpheum Mural

The Orpheum Community Hub Mural was created by Artist Denise Weaver Ross this summer. It is one of Albuquerque’s newest public art pieces located in the Barelas neighborhood.

The organizing image for this mural is an image of a film reel unfurling across the North face of the building. People traveling down Coal Avenue view the mural from West to East, in the direction of vehicle traffic. This image portrays artistic scenes, important to the life of the community, and alludes to the area’s economic transition from the steam locomotive to the film industry as evidenced by the emerging use of the Railyards as a go-to location for filmmakers.

The film contains images from the culture and history of the Barelas neighborhood. Beginning on the Western end of the mural with a steam locomotive and then moving through images of people important to the neighborhood, Senator Dennis Chávez; Dr. Aragon, the President of New Mexico Highlands University; Rudolfo Anaya, the author of Bless Me Ultimá, to Maclovia Sanchez de Zamora, an herbalist and healer, who worked at the B. Ruppe Drugstore for over 30 years. It then transitions to scenes from traditional community pageants such as the Matachines Dance and La Posadas, and ends with a visual reference to the windows at the Railyards.

In the background is a stylized and impressionistic portrayal of the Rio Grande and the Sandia Mountains as well as a lowrider parked on the banks of the river, representing the car culture associated with life along Route 66.

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