No, Las Cruces is not tearing down the famous Amador Hotel

Las Cruces: Don’t worry. No one is tearing down the famous Amador Hotel, the city’s oldest public building.

“That hotel is part of Las Cruces folklore,” said City Manager Stuart Ed. “What an attraction to be able to preserve that, to bring people downtown into a historic hotel.”

According to the Amador Hotel Foundation, the building might be the only two-story adobe hotel in the United States. The city is tearing down the eastern addition to the hotel, which was built in the 1970s when Citizens Bank acquired the property. That portion is not made of adobe; it’s constructed from sheetrock, Ed said.

“What we’re trying to do is get back to the historic footprint of the Amador Hotel,” said Deborah Dennis, vice president of the Amador Hotel Foundation. “So, we’re taking off all those non-historic parts.”

“We’re removing the non-historic portion of the hotel so that we can expose the original adobe,” Ed said.

The building was originally constructed in 1866 on Amador Avenue and Water Street for the Amador family, according to the city. in 1878, the Amador family moved out and converted their old home into a hotel, adding a second story. Over the course of the twentieth century, the hotel hosted famous faces like President Teddy Roosevelt.

Dennis said she hopes the building will be available to the public within the next two years as an event space. Ed said the demolition will continue over the next three to four weeks.