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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
'No Other Building Like It'
By Kathaleen Roberts
Journal Staff Writer
Years ago, the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater on the Santa Fe Indian School campus was considered for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
Designed by and named for the acclaimed architect that bears its name, the building qualified because of its association with Soleri and his prominence as one of the founders of the green design movement.
"Also, there is no other building like it in New Mexico," said Tom Drake, a spokesman for the State Historic Preservation Office. "This would have given it protection. It could be the Indian School chose not to pursue it."
The effort fizzled. Today rumors are swirling that the venerable theater is about to be razed, although no one from the Indian School will confirm its passing. Santa Fe event promoter Jamie Lenfesty tried to book a summer concert series there, but was told via e-mail that the building would close as of Aug. 1. Repeated calls to school officials this week remain unreturned.
A Facebook page launched by SFIS alumna Frances Abeyta brims with postings lamenting the venue's rumored demise, sharing fond memories of the space and making pleas for its rescue. The amphitheater has been the site of school graduations since it was built in 1965 at a cost of $690,000, Drake said.
The school demolished about 18 old campus buildings in 2008, some dating to the 1800s, and the wholesale razing has helped fuel concern for the Soleri building. School officials didn't announce the razing of classrooms, dormitories and office space in advance. Afterward, they said the buildings were torn down because they contained asbestos.
But those buildings were included in a proposed campus historic district for the National Register that included the amphitheater.
"The whole district was torn down except for the John Gaw Meem building that's still standing," Drake said. "It would be very hard to speculate if the (amphitheater) would qualify by itself."
"I don't know why it never passed" the National Historic Register review, he added.
The amphitheater has hosted outdoor concerts since the 1960s, including such legendary acts as Bob Marley, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King. In its heyday, Lenfesty says it brought in upwards of $100,000. But competition from area tribal casinos and The Pavilion in Albuquerque have drained the audience, he said.
According to Erin Jeffries of Arcosanti, the Arizona community designed by Soleri, the theater was originally built to showcase Native American performances. In 1964, Lloyd Kiva New, then-president of the Institute of American Indian Arts, commissioned Soleri to build a 300-seat open air theater to serve as a performance space and "frame the moon and the sun."
Soleri, now 91, no longer gives interviews. But Jeffries provided the Journal with a 2009 history of the theater written for Arcosanti's online newsletter.
Soleri's distinctive design incorporated a dramatically upward-shaping concrete crescent to cover the stage. The architect was influenced by Elizabethan actor-audience interactions, and in a 1993 New Mexico magazine interview said he hoped "actors would use not only the stage, but the area above it as well as the bridge and the other platforms that were designed into the structure."
Construction was a progression of earth-shifting as IAIA students helped build the space under Soleri's direction. The sprayed shell of concrete was layered in place, with steel rebar placed between concrete pours.
The open-air theater allowed Soleri the chance to experiment with low-cost materials in close connection with the environment. Workers built a large upside-down vault above the stage intersected with a bridge, creating a natural flow in a tangle of shapes, projections and stairs. Soleri said of the project:
"The notion of using the local landscape, geology and natural materials was an integral part of the process. We molded earth and arranged the arches, then we excavated trenches and poured concrete to form the walls, using a technique that captures the consistency and shape of the earth itself. Rock, gravel, sand and so forth were intentionally incorporated into the surfaces."
Soleri said he wanted to produce a synergy between audience and performers by creating a stage and seating without division.
Indian School officials have said they plan to develop the 115-acre area that fronts on Cerrillos Road and is now almost entirely cleared of buildings and trees. But have declined to discuss any of the details. The school has moved to new buildings on the same property but set well back from the street.
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