Title
Los Alamos Little Theater Boiler
Body
The Los Alamos Little Theater has an old boiler that is original to the building and is no longer functioning. The boiler was originally coal burning, then in the 1950’s it was converted to natural gas, which was inefficient, considering the building was heater by steam. The boiler was also connected to steam pipes that ran underground to heat a nearby shopping center downtown. Considering that the boiler has not been used in many years and is taking up space, several comments have been made that the boiler would make an interesting industrial art piece. Therefore, it has been brought to the APP Board for consideration. Additional information on the boiler is provided in the attachment.
At the Dec. 2022 meeting the APP Board agreed to consider adding the Little Theater Boiler to the Los Alamos County Art Collection, however wanted to see the piece in person before any further action is taken, to see what kind of piece this physically looks like and if any additional display ideas could be considered. Initial thoughts long with considering the complete piece, is to utilize only the front piece of the boiler and have it mounted somewhere.
A viewing of the boiler was scheduled on Jan 14th, with Jenn Baker, Abigayle Cutting-Smith, Katherine Hudspeth, Sara Rhoton, and the Little Theater project architect.
At the March 2022 APP Board the Historical Preservation Board and Keith Wilson were invited to the meeting, the board and the Historical Preservation Board discussed ideas about placement and preservation. Ideas for placement were: WAC Building and Fuller Lodge lawn. Staff Liaison, Katherine Hudspeth, was tasked with reaching out to the Historical Society to gather their input on this project as well. Per the Historical Society there is also a boiler in the WAC, and there are hopes to leave it and place an interpretive sign near it, but that decision has not been made. It is the Historical Society’s desire to keep one of these boilers preserved as it is an integral part of Los Alamos history. If the boiler was to be removed, it may be an interesting piece within the community and may have a visual connection between the arts and sciences.
August 9, 2022 we received a letting from the Historic Preservation Advisory Board, stating that they have made the determination that the boiler is historically significant, APP should consider relocation and preservation of the piece.
Attachment
A - Historic Preservation Advisory Board Letter