D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July
2008
Gerald Lundeen
Page: 3"Don't be deceived," he says with a raised finger and a smile. He points out the aged, wooden attic vents up high in the walls. Plywood and wire mesh endeavor to hold out the elements — and the pigeons. Overhead, a striking system of steel beam work is laced in an open, triangular pattern. Another 12 feet up are the roof rafters.
Ever able to see that diamond in the rough, Lundeen spreads his arms wide in the desolate-seeming blank space. "Can't you just see a restaurant in here? Or a huge market?" he asks.
He leads the way into another room across the hall. It's not much more than brick walls and a concrete floor, currently littered with construction debris. But not to Lundeen.
"I see four rentable spaces here. We'll split it up and put in walls, here and here," he says, translating the plans in his mind into spots on the floor beneath him. Each tenant will have front and rear access. He advances to a doorway at the far end of the building.
"Look at this," he invites. "Here's Main Street. You're facing the main corridor. You can't get better than this."
He steps outside and prepares to lock up the building. Across the way is that little tan stucco building with the eye-catching angled doors and windows — his first project, the one that will be torn down in order for this ambitious courthouse project to develop and be completed.
Asked if he's sad to see the little building go, Gerald Lundeen shakes his head and smiles.
"No. No, not at all. I mean, it's had a good life, you could say. More than 40 years, in fact," he says. Striding across the parking lot, taking in the view of the big old courthouse, it's obvious Lundeen long ago let go of that tiny building, his first triumph, and has his mind fully on this next project, a very big chapter in a long architectural career. As he crosses the street, heading back to his office, he jingles the keys in his pocket and gives a broad smile.
"It's an exciting project," Lundeen says. "To restore that grand old building and bring in something like this? Something really vibrant? It's going to be good." k
Lundeen & Associates Architects' office is at 618 S. Alameda Blvd., Las Cruces, 527-9031.
Senior editor Donna Clayton Lawder's last architectural project
involved beach sand and a plastic bucket.