On your right, look for the sand-colored stucco theater with tall arched windows and an over-the-top white, lacy-looking crown of ornamentation running along the roofline.
This is the Lensic Theater, and it’s been showing off since day one. It opened June 24, 1931, built in that mash-up style Santa Fe does so well: a little pseudo-Moorish flair, a little Spanish Renaissance swagger… and a lot of “yes, we meant it to look this dramatic.” The designers were the Boller Brothers out of Kansas City, specialists in theaters across the West and Midwest-pros who knew that if you’re going to buy a ticket, you should feel like you’re entering someplace IMPORTANT.
The name “Lensic” sounds elegant, but it’s also downright wholesome: it comes from the initials of E. John Greer’s six grandchildren. Imagine being immortalized on a marquee because Grandpa had both money and sentiment.
From the 1930s through the 1960s, this place was prime-time Santa Fe entertainment-movies, vaudeville, and drop-ins by big names like Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland, Roy Rogers, and even Ronald Reagan. People dressed up, the lights went down, and for a couple hours the world politely waited outside.
Then came the hard part. By the late 1990s, the building was tired, the stage was too shallow, and the tech was behind. A nonprofit stepped in and raised about 9 million dollars-roughly 16 to 17 million in today’s money-to rebuild it as a serious performance hall. They deepened the stage by removing the rear wall, upgraded sound and lighting, and restored all this fancy detailing. In 2000 it even got a Save America’s Treasures nod, and by 2001 it was back.
Today, with 821 seats-504 downstairs, 317 up top-and a stage about 40 feet wide, it hosts the city’s big arts groups…and still sneaks in classic films now and then.
When you’re set, Santiago E. Campos United States Courthouse is about an 8-minute walk heading east.
