It's Not the Alvarado Hotel, Though

Alvarado transportation center, Albuquerque

This is the site of one of the great architectural crimes of all time, the 1970 demolition of the Mission-style Alvarado hotel, a Fred Harvey complex adjacent to the Santa Fe railroad station. It was one of Albuquerque's finest hotels, and most distinctive buildings, yet there's never been a clear reason for its demolition.

In the last few years, Albuquerque has begun to value its downtown area again, and has established a transportation center for the city's bus lines at the Alvarado site, with architectural details somewhat reminiscent of the old hotel.

A typical Albuquerque-style overhead horizontal traffic light obscures part of the view in this photo, looking at the entrance at First and Gold SW, taken in May 2004.