Plaza building renovations begin Friday

By Bryan Betts

bbetts@alamogordonews.com @BryanBetts21 on Twitter

The Plaza building, the adobe building on the corner of Tenth Street and White Sands Boulevard, has taken many forms over the years: a tattoo parlor, a flower shop and a bar.

A contractor will began to transform the 76-year-old building Friday yet again, this time into a form that suits its historical importance the Tularosa Basin Museum of History.

The Tularosa Basin Historical Society finished a bidding process last month in which the Otero County Commission selected Las Cruces-based C D General Contractors to renovate the building into the society's new home.

Society Vice President Joe Lewandowski said the renovations will cost $405,000 and will be funded with $525,000 awarded to the historical society by the state legislature about three years ago.

Lewandowski said workers will install a new roof and heating and cooling system, renovate the interiors and bathrooms and redo the parking lot, among other changes.

He said the renovations will also seek to preserve the Plaza Pub, including the building's old doors. Lewandowski said the Plaza Pub was once the center of activity in Alamogordo and is one of the only adobe buildings in town.

"What makes it unique is that it's an adobe building, and Alamogordo's not known for adobe buildings," he said.

The society's plans for the Plaza facility meet state guidelines for renovating buildings on the New Mexico historical register, Lewandowski said. The Plaza building was placed on the State Registry of Cultural Properties in June 2012.

View original post here:
Plaza building renovations begin Friday