At Last, the Museum Gets A Home
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- Apr 17
- 4 min read
Okay, last time, I had the Zachary Family as the proud owners of an enormous collection of turquoise and other art, and having it on display at a museum near Old Town, Albuquerque, New Mexico. And, a few episodes before that, I had Gertrude Zachary’s enormous home downtown ...the Castle...empty and in need of a tenant.
Well, you can sort of see where I’m going.
I gather that the decision to move to the Castle wasn’t as easy or as automatic as it would seem. Just after our tour of the Museum (more about which later), I ended up having a conversation with Davonna Lowry -- or, as she identified herself, “I’m Mrs. Joe Dan.”
We talked about the choice of the Castle, and she indicated that originally the Museum had had an agreement to move into a space adjacent to another area attraction, The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, which is also really quite remarkable. As the name would suggest, it is a place where the Pueblo peoples of the state display and explain their culture. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in town, and...oh, yes!...do plan a supper in the restaurant.(1)
Linking the Museum and the Center would have made a great deal of sense (much of the turquoise in the Museum is, after all, of Indian origin). But, she noted, as is too frequently the case in life, it just didn’t work out.
But, a little after that, an alternative appeared...the Castle. In 2019, the Museum signed the lease and moved in.(2)
And that’s where we were headed next.
About the photos: First, here’s a photo of the Alvarado Hotel. This is a black and white shot dating from 1922. It’s from the Library of Congress and you can see it here: https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3c16105/ No photographer is given.
Second, a shot of the East Front Entrance of the Hotel. The photo is credited to Fred Mang and dates to “after 1933.” This, too, is from the Library of Congress, and you can see it here: https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.nm0081.photos/?sp=4. (It is part of a series of 33 photos by Mr. Mang.)
Third, and last, Martha about to have pizza at Il Vicino, one of our fav casual restaurants in Albuquerque.
We left the AirB&B and drove downtown. Albuquerque’s downtown, by the way, is like a lot of downtowns in modern, post-industrial America, it’s had its up and downs. Late into the 1950s, and even into the early 1960s, it was a thriving retail and business center. When I was a boy, we would go down and shop there. I can remember going there several times with my mother. We’d catch the bus (yes, Albuquerque has public transportation) and go downtown for a treat. There were some great movie theaters...one had really spooky gargoyles in the balcony...and lots of cool stores.
But...alas...time passed and things changed. Retail fled out to the Malls and the suburbs. Government and law was still downtown, but almost everything else went elsewhere. By the time I was in college at UNM, you might not *want* to go downtown, at least not at night, or if you were in anyway vulnerable.
Worse, there had been some wonderful architecture Downtown--for example, the massive train station complex, known confusingly as the Santa Fe Depot (even though it was in Albuquerque), with the attached Alvarado Hotel.(3) This structure was utterly gorgeous...a magnificent example of Mission Revival style. It could and should have been protected and made into an irresistible attraction, bringing in tourists (and their money) from all over the world.
Then, of course, in 1970, in an act of gross criminal stupidity, the Depot was torn down. It was an utter waste, and I have never forgiven the fools who decreed its ruin.(4)
The good news is that over the last few decades, there have been serious efforts to bring Downtown back. If it is not yet returned to its glory days, it is at least no longer the kind of place that you think twice about visiting, even in broad daylight. Indeed, there has been a remarkable resurgence, and you can find new and interesting restaurants and shops in the area.
Which is not to say everything is perfect. If you go, and you should go, exercise the kind of caution you would in any modern, American urban environment. It’s just what you do everywhere in every city these days. And, frankly, having seen my share of small towns in this postindustrial age, I’m not sure they’re any safer. In fact, as an outsider visiting those towns, I’ve sometimes felt much more at risk than I have in big cities.
But that’s a story for another day.
Anyway, soon we were on Lead and Second Streets. We found a parking spot with surprisingly little difficulty, and shortly we were outside the enormous gray walls that circle the Castle. Soon, we would be inside.
And there...we would see...
Wonders.
But that’s for next time.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. The Center’s webpage is here: https://indianpueblo.org/
2. For a news story about the Museum’s move, see: “Turquoise Museum moves into Gertrude Zachary castle,” by Brittany Bade, Posted: Apr 5, 2019 / 06:40 AM MDT , Updated: Apr 6, 2019 / 01:39 PM MDT, KRQE News, https://www.krqe.com/news/turquoise-museum-moves-into-gertrude-zachary-castle/
And: “Turquoise Museum takes over castle,” by By Hayley Estrada, April 29, 2019, NM News-Port, https://newmexiconewsport.com/turquoise-museums-takes-over-castle/.
3. The Depot has its Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_Depot_(Albuquerque,_New_Mexico)
And the Alvarado Hotel’s Wiki page is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvarado_Hotel
For a terrific description of the Alvarado at its prime, see “Rise, fall of treasured masterpiece,” by Dave DeWitt, Wheels Museum Website, https://wheelsmuseum.org/?page_id=1672
4. The story of the destruction of the Alvarado and the Depot may be a bit more complicated than I’m suggesting here. So, I’m going to write another post with more information.
Copyright©2025 Michael Jay Tucker
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