LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - A city’s commitment to its history caused El Paso construction company employee Ivan Ponce to spend a spring week meticulously re-grouting and moving colorful one-inch by one-inch mosaic tiles outside a new CVS pharmacy.
When a building on a Las Cruces street corner was slated to be razed to make way for the new CVS, City Councilor Miguel Silva asked the company to preserve decades-old tile mosaics that adorned the building’s exterior walls, reports the Las Cruces Sun-News (https://bit.ly/1FiaNuZ).
Residents urged Silva to find a way to save the depictions of a katchina, bullfighter and roadrunner made some 40 to 50 years ago.
“A lot more people took notice of those images than anyone could have realized,” Silva said.
“So, when the request was made for a zone change of that property for CVS, I asked them if they could preserve them. They have done that, and I think it’s pretty cool,” he said.
The artwork is being moved to a pillar outside the CVS building.
“This is the first time I’ve worked with tiles this small,” Ponce said. “It will take a while to get them all put back up, but it should look pretty nice once it’s all finished.”
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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, https://www.lcsun-news.com
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