National Register Listing

Skinner Building

722--724 Central Ave. and 108 8th St., SW, Albuquerque, NM

The Skinner Building is significant for Albuquerque as one of the very few examples of Art Deco design in the city; the other notable example is a larger federal building, the U.S. Indian Hospital. The Nationally Registered (5-2-77) KiMo Theater shows a strong influence from Art Deco, but with a heavy mixture of the Spanish-Pueblo style and an eclectic use of Indian motifs. The crispness and lightness of the Skinner Building ornamentation make it a good pocket-sized version of the style. The siting of the Skinner Building is also important; at the west end of the downtown core, it announces and anchors the commercial area of Central Avenue. The work of Albuquerque architect A.W. Boehning, Sr., the Skinner - Building is typical of his design in attention to detail and interest in geometric forms.

The Skinner Building was designed as the main store of a chain of family-owned groceries. The downtown lots were purchased by Mary Skinner in August 1930, and the building continued in family ownership through 1970. The Skinner family chose A.W. Boehning as the building's architect; Boehning, a native of Indiana, moved to Albuquerque to recover from tuberculosis after the First World War, working first with the local branch of the El Paso firm of Trost and Trost and setting up his own company by 1925. Other Boehning designs include the Davis House (nominated to the National Register) - an English cottage built as a demonstration house, the International Style Valliant Company Building downtown, St. Charles Church in the Mediterranean style, and a number of Spanish-Pueblo Revival buildings.

The Skinner Building housed the J.A. Skinner Stores and Markets from its 1931 opening through 1942; from 1944 through 1947, it was the local Pepsi-Cola headquarters. Later tenants included a liquor store, Dial Finance, and Del Norte Records. In 1970, the Skinner family sold the building to Invesco Holding Company, which sold in turn to Central Land Company (1972); in 1977, the Skinner Building was purchased by the City of Albuquerque as part of a downtown revitalization project. The City has continued to rent the west half of the building to Dial Finance and has rented the east half as an artist's studio. The City now contemplates the sale of the Skinner Building, with stipulations that the north and west facades and important interior elements be preserved, for use as a restaurant.

Significant for its architecture and siting, the Skinner Building can play an important role in the revitalization of Albuquerque's Central Business District. Its attractiveness makes the building a local landmark of interest to many, and its small scale encourages creative and effective recycling.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.