A one-story office building in downtown Clovis, New Mexico – illustrative of the mid-20th century Moderne architectural movement – may soon be repurposed as rental property.
Located at 600 Mitchell Street, the structure for decades has been known as the P.E. Hale Office Building.
In recent years the building has served as the administrative office space for the Eastern Regional Housing Authority as well as the Doerr and Knudson law firm.
Earlier this spring, developer and investor Darren Hyder purchased the structure from the ERHA. Hyder has since told the Eastern New Mexico News that he hopes to restore the structure “to the way it looked in its heyday.”
The structure is defined by its curved corners, glass window bricks, and clean exterior vertical design lines.
Eastern New Mexico, in the 1930s and 40s, saw its fair share of both Moderne and Art Deco design structures, some built by the federal Works Progress Administration.
Examples of the style in Clovis are seen in the Roosevelt Brewing Company Taproom at 515 Main Street, as well as the original James M. Bickley Elementary School at 500 W. 14th Street.
By Garry Boulard
