Like countless American cities during the 1960s and '70s, Las Cruces converted a street in its downtown area into an open-air, pedestrian shopping center. The DOWNTOWN MALL Urban Renewal project was completed in August 1972. The mall was dismantled in 2012, with Main Street returned to a vehicular thoroughfare. 

Photo from Petley Studios, Incorporated

By 1973, the City of the Crosses complex was being promoted as the LORETTO SHOPPING CENTER.

Graphic from the Loretto Development Company, Incorporated 

The LORETTO and DOWNTOWN malls tended to compliment one another. The retail situation changed with the completion of MESILLA VALLEY MALL, in 1981. This complex snatched the LORETTO J.C. Penney, leaving that shopping hub in dire straits. 

Graphic from https://www.mesillavalleymall.com

Following J.C. Penney's departure, the LORETTO mall began to decline. In 1988, the virtually vacant complex was reconfigured as LORETTO TOWNE CENTRE, a retail and office complex. South Wing space was leased as the Graham Central Station nightclub (2003-2016) and Boots & Bourbon nightclub (2017-2019).

Photo from www.loopnet.com

We now embark upon a series of contemporary LORETTO mall images. Here we see the Professional Office Condominium, built in the year 2000. This freestanding structure houses several leased office suites.

Photo from Google Maps