In the 1960s and '70s, several United States cities converted a downtown street -or streets- into an open-air, pedestrian shopping center. The DOWNTOWN MALL project in Las Cruces 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 situation changed with the completion of MESILLA VALLEY MALL, in 1981. This complex snatched the LORETTO J.C. Penney, leaving that complex in dire straits.
Graphic from https://www.mesillavalleymall.com
After Penney's departure, the LORETTO mall began to decline. In 1988, a virtually vacant complex was reconfigured as LORETTO TOWNE CENTRE, a retail and office facility. 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