New building to improve street's 'curb appeal'

Philip Garcia, president of Gallup Title Company, is expanding his office building at 306 S. 2nd St. The new addition was designed to look like McKinley County Courthouse which is in the background. [Photo by Julie Pena/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Philip Garcia believes his new office building poses a win-win solution for all concerned.

The citizens of Gallup will no longer have to see the South Second Street "eyesore," downtown Gallup will soon get an attractive new building, and Garcia will end up operating his business out of a beautiful office facility.

Garcia is the president of Gallup Title Company, currently located at 306 S. Second St., and the "eyesore" was the vacant lot with the big hole in the ground that was located next door to his business. The lot was the former home of Rollie Mortuary until a fire razed the building in 1977. The hole in the ground or the "swimming pool" as Garcia jokingly calls it was the former basement of the old mortuary building.

The hole has now been filled and compacted with soil, and the lot is on its way to becoming the new site of Gallup Title, complete with a new address: 308 S. Second St.

But what Garcia is particularly pleased with is the building's architectural style. The new building has been designed in the same Southwestern Pueblo style as the historic McKinley County Courthouse, located just across the street on Hill Avenue.

In an interview on Friday, Garcia said his new office building will have the same soft architectural lines of the old courthouse, and will feature brick floors, exposed vigas in parts of the ceiling, and a Spanish-style portal.

The 3,200 square foot building was designed by Gallup contractor Jerry Garcia, who is an old family friend (but not relative) of Philip Garcia's family, and is now being constructed by Jerry and his wife Dale in partnership with Wade Macias Builders. David Hickman of Core Ltd. in Albuquerque is the project's architect.

"We thought it'd be a real nice addition to the downtown area," said Garcia of his new office building. He believes the new Gallup Title building will "dress up" what has been an ugly downtown corner and will architecturally flow with the courthouse plaza project being built by the City of Gallup and McKinley County.

"I think it's going to be very charming," he said. "It's going to be very Santa Fe."

Ground was broken on the construction project about three weeks ago, and Garcia expects to be moving into the new building by late January or early February. The actual footage of office space will end up being 3,900 square feet because Garcia is also renovating his existing building. The old and new buildings will share a wall and doorway, and Garcia will use 700 square feet of the current office space in the new facility's design. The remaining office space in the current building will be leased to other businesses, he explained.

The new Gallup Title building will have 12 main rooms, including a conference room, real estate closing room, offices for his closing officers, reception area, offices for his remaining staff members, Garcia's private office, copy room, and break room.

Garcia is particularly looking forward to enjoying the amenities of a new building such as having a more efficient floor plan and updated heating, cooling, and electrical systems. In addition, the new building will have state-of-the art telephone and computer equipment. This latter feature is being designed by Garcia's brother, Bill Garcia, and his Albuquerque company, Cerelink.

"We will be on the cutting edge of new technology," said Garcia of the sophisticated communications system.

An employee of Gallup Title Company since 1978, Garcia said he purchased the business in February 1996. Garcia has seven employees, including himself. Prior to becoming Gallup Title Company in 1960, the business was founded as Mid-Valley Abstract by Ira Sprecher, Garcia said. He believes Sprecher established the business and built the current brick building in the 1930s.

— Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.