Bataan Memorial Building
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP | name = New Mexico Territorial and State Capitol
| added = February 28, 2025
| refnum = 100011470
| designated_other1 = New Mexico State Register
| designated_other1_date = December 6, 2024
| designated_other1_number = 2088
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| image = Bataan Memorial Building Santa Fe.jpg
| caption = The building in 2007
| location= 407 Galisteo Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico
| coordinates = {{coord|35|41|2|N|105|56|32|W|region:US-NM_type:edu|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = New Mexico#USA
| area =
| built = 1900
| architect = Isaac Hamilton Rapp
(original)
Trost & Trost
(1923 addition)
Willard C. Kruger
(1952 additions and remodeling)
| architecture = Territorial Revival
| governing_body =
}}
The Bataan Memorial Building is a state government building in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which formerly served as the New Mexico Territorial Capitol from 1900 to 1912 and State Capitol from 1912 to 1966. Since being replaced by the present New Mexico State Capitol, the building has housed various state government offices.{{cite web |title=Central Complex |url=https://www.generalservices.state.nm.us/facilities-management/building-information/central-complex/ |publisher=New Mexico General Services Department |access-date=March 20, 2025}} It was listed on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 2024 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2025.{{cite web | title=State and National Register Spreadsheet | url=https://www.nmhistoricpreservation.org/assets/files/registers/spreadsheet/New%20Mexico%20-%20SR%20NR%20Excel%20Database%20-%202025-02-11.xlsx | publisher=New Mexico Department of Historic Preservation | accessdate=April 7, 2025 | format=Excel}}
The building had a series of additions completed in 1910, 1923, and 1952. During the 1952 project, the dome and portico of the old capitol were removed and the entire complex was remodeled in the Territorial Revival style, largely obscuring the original architecture. However, some details, such as the arched windows on the third floor, are still visible.
The former capitol was renamed in 1968 to honor over 800 New Mexicans who died during the Battle of Bataan and subsequent Bataan Death March during World War II.{{cite news |title=124 Years of History: New Mexico’s longtime State and Territorial Capitol building added to State Register of Cultural Properties (Press Release) |url=https://media.newmexicoculture.org/release/1740/124-years-of-history |access-date=March 20, 2025 |agency=New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs |date=December 19, 2024}} A memorial, consisting of an eternal flame and a concrete insignia which originally marked the headquarters of the 200th Coast Artillery at Fort Bliss,{{cite news |title=Cap's Bataan Memorial Is Due To Be Restored |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/168438124/ |access-date=March 30, 2025 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=November 18, 1952 |via=Newspapers.com}} was dedicated at the southeast corner of the grounds in 1966.{{cite web |title=New Mexico's Eternal Flame, (sculpture) |url=https://www.si.edu/object/new-mexicos-eternal-flame-sculpture%3Asiris_ari_333776 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=March 30, 2025}}{{cite news |title=NM Gold Star Mother Lights Bataan Flame |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/168437226/ |access-date=March 30, 2025 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=June 19, 1966 |via=Newspapers.com}}
History
File:1900 New Mexico Capitol.jpg
The Bataan Memorial Building was New Mexico's third Territorial Capitol, replacing an earlier building which was completed in 1886 and destroyed only six years later by a fire which was believed to have been set intentionally. The building was uninsured and its loss cost the territory over $200,000.{{cite news|title=Incendiary: Defective Water Service in the Building—The Domes Ablaze and the Hose Cut|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020631/1892-05-14/ed-1/seq-4|access-date=March 16, 2018|work=Santa Fe New Mexican|date=May 14, 1892|via=Library of Congress}}{{cite news|title=Reward for the Capitol Burners|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020631/1892-05-24/ed-1/seq-4|access-date=March 16, 2018|work=Santa Fe New Mexican|date=May 24, 1892|via=Library of Congress}} The United States Courthouse in Santa Fe was used as a temporary capitol while the new permanent building was being constructed.
The new capitol was designed by Isaac Hamilton Rapp and completed in 1900.Sheppard, Carl D. Creator of the Santa Fe Style: Isaac Hamilton Rapp, Architect, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1988 pp. 42-45 After the costly loss of the previous building, the new capitol was completed on a shoestring budget of less than $140,000, using salvaged materials and unpaid convict labor from the Penitentiary of New Mexico to save money. The building was three stories high with a silver dome, cupola, and neoclassical portico. The first story was constructed from sandstone reused from the old capitol, while the second and third floors were yellow brick and the portico was Indiana limestone.{{cite news | title=The new capitol almost completed | url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020630/1899-06-13/ed-1/seq-4 | access-date=March 17, 2018 | work=Santa Fe New Mexican | date=June 13, 1899 | via=Library of Congress}}{{cite news | title=The new capitol | url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020630/1898-03-26/ed-1/seq-4 | access-date=March 17, 2018 | work=Santa Fe New Mexican | date=March 26, 1898 | via=Library of Congress}} It was dedicated on June 4, 1900.{{cite news | title=Dedication of the New Capitol a Memorable and Interesting Event; A Civic and Military Pageant | url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020630/1900-06-05/ed-1/seq-1/ | access-date=March 17, 2018 | work=Santa Fe New Mexican | date=June 5, 1900 | via=Library of Congress}}
A two-story annex, housing offices on the first floor and the Territorial law library on the second floor, was added to the rear of the capitol in 1910.{{cite news |title=Getting Ready for Convention |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/169196199/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=June 28, 1910 |via=Newspapers.com}} That same year, the United States Congress passed an Enabling Act authorizing New Mexico to organize a state government and apply for statehood. In October and November, 1910, the capitol hosted the constitutional convention which drafted the Constitution of New Mexico.{{cite book |title=Report of the Secretary of the Territory, 1910–1911, and Legislative Manual, 1911 |date=1911 |publisher=Legislative Services Office |location=Santa Fe |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Legislative_Manual/bN7r2wzsk-QC |access-date=March 31, 2025 |language=en}}{{cite book |title=The constitution of the State of New Mexico, adopted by the Constitutional Convention held at Santa Fe, N. M., from October 3 to November 21, 1910, and as amended, November 6th, 1911 |date=April 1914 |location=Santa Fe |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044004445722 |access-date=March 31, 2025 |language=en}} On January 6, 1912, at 1:35 PM, President William Taft signed the proclamation admitting New Mexico as the 47th state of the Union.{{cite news |title=President Taft Signed the Statehood Proclamation at 1.35 O'Clock This Afternoon |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/las-vegas-optic/169263171/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Las Vegas Optic |date=January 6, 1912 |via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1922–23, a two-story brick addition designed by the firm of Trost & Trost was built to the east of the 1910 annex. This building contained offices for the state Public Health Bureau and Highway Department. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that, prior to construction of the new building, the capitol was so overcrowded that temporary workspaces had been set up in hallways and in the House and Senate chambers when the legislature was not in session.{{cite news |title=Will Start New Capitol Annex June 1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/169267741/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=April 19, 1922 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |title=Capitol Addition Done Next Week |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/169267701/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=February 9, 1923 |via=Newspapers.com}}
A major project to expand and modernize the capitol complex was undertaken in 1949–1952 under the supervision of architect Willard C. Kruger. A new Executive Building, housing the offices of the Governor, Secretary of State, and Bureau of Revenue, was built on the west (front) side of the old capitol. This necessitated demolition of the original portico and steps.{{cite news |last1=Morgan |first1=Art |title=Capitol's Aged Steps Go In Building Works |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/169275995/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=August 17, 1950}} The older buildings were also remodeled to match the Executive Building, including removal of the capitol dome, which had sometimes been criticized as not in keeping with the "Santa Fe style".{{cite news |last1=Morgan |first1=Art |title=Capitol Dome On Way Down; Sentiment Split |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/169277427/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=April 17, 1951 |via=Newspapers.com}} Kruger, the architect, initially planned to work in the Pueblo Revival style, but ultimately decided that Territorial Revival architecture was better suited to an office building with a large number of windows. Because the removal of the dome meant there was no longer a place to mount a flagpole, he also added a five-story tower at the north end of the building.{{cite news |title=State's 'New' Capitol Opens For Use |work=Santa Fe New Mexican |date=December 31, 1952}} Clippings of the [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/169273694/ first] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/169273905/ second] pages via Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 31, 2025.