We shape our buildings; therefore they shape us.
Every building in a town is important. This may not seem true at face value, but when one understands the history of a particular place, a building that “used to be” or “once was” something in a town comes to life in the imagination of an otherwise ignorant spectator.
And then, with certain landmarks, all it takes is a photo, a glimpse back in time where an old, seemingly ordinary building shines in its classic glory. Where “used to be” is exchanged for “still is,” its relationship with the thriving town is immortal in the still frame of the camera.
When it comes to cornerstone buildings, Carlsbad, New Mexico, is no different than any other intimate community. While it is too large to technically be considered a “small town,” Carlsbad is a tight knit community with small-town roots, still, in many ways, wed to the buildings that helped mold it into what it is today.
But a building is much more than just its functionality, isn’t it?
For some community members, fifty years doesn’t seem like a very long time, but most lifelong Carlsbad residents grew up knowing nothing other than the Carlsbad Current-Argus attached to 620 South Main. There is a connection there that is sometimes difficult to sever.
So, now that the connection is, in fact, severed, the question lingers: what is to be done with the building itself?
Pastor Gabe Rubio of Oasis Church in Carlsbad has a few ideas.
In the past fifty years, perhaps no building was quite as impactful as 620 S. Main St., which housed the Carlsbad Current-Argus from the mid-1970s through August of 2021. Nearly five decades in which a small, humble building was responsible for the news output of the growing, thriving community of Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Jameson Lucas, owner and Creative Director of the OMA Agency in Carlsbad, puts the building’s impact into a clear perspective: “The significance of 620 South Main lies in what it did for the Current-Argus output and circulation efforts. It expanded their production capabilities.”
Lucas rightfully points out the functional benefits of the move; in the ‘70s, Carlsbad, and Eddy County as a whole, were rapidly growing, and the news needed to progress in efficiency and capacity to adapt to the developing community. As Carlsbad’s main news and media outlet, the Current-Argus did so beautifully, enhancing its reach and capabilities while ensuring every resident had access to the events going on around them.
Oasis purchased the property on August 31st of 2021, and they have wasted no time re-modeling. Pastor Gabe is excited for the possibilities the building will offer the church’s outreach.
“The Current-Argus building allows us as a church to have a place for everybody,” he said. The church plans to use the building for staff offices and a second chapel for community events. As a result, Oasis will be able to expand its children and youth facilities in their original building to accommodate the growth they have been experiencing.
The move, from a logistical standpoint, makes sense. With the Argus sitting right next to Oasis Church to begin with, the staff is able to remain close in proximity to the main building and will allow the church to seamlessly integrate 620 South Main into its ministry.
When asked about the building’s importance, Pastor Gabe withheld no praise: “We honor and appreciate all that the Current-Argus brought to the community; it was something people looked forward to every day. We hope others can look forward to being a part of what we are trying to give.”
Pastor Gabe also spoke about his, along with most of the members of his staff, personal experience working at the Current-Argus when they were younger. “Many of us helped spread the news around the community.” He also noted that some older community members had stepped into the old building during the remodel and were impressed with the changes being made.
While change in a tight knit community is usually met with a fair amount of resistance, it is hard to root against what Oasis is offering. With a heart for the kids of Carlsbad and plans to be a place where the community gathers together, whether young, old, big, small, broken, or anything in between, is there any more one could wish for in the re-purposing of an old structure with so much history and impact?
Pastor Gabe, his wife Bethie, and the Oasis staff — Josiah and Desiree Ochoa, Andy Weisner, Brian and Amber Hurst, Isaac and Trina Garcia, Albert Alvarez, and Kim Cavender — have maintained a posture of humility and gratefulness through the entire process. “[We] just want to give God glory for everything He’s doing — for the church, and this community. Even through the pandemic and shutdowns, God has been faithful through it all.”
As Churchill so famously purported, buildings certainly shape our communities — more so than just the structures themselves, but what pours out from them and into the city around them. 620 South Main was a place that served the community by distributing news to the people, and Oasis hopes to do the same, only now it is the good news of the gospel Oasis aims to spread.
Whether community members agree with the message or not, the people of Carlsbad should be relieved to know that 620 South Main is in the hands of life-long Carlsbad natives who want nothing more than to love and serve the people around them.
Article written by Zeke Montoya and originally published in Focus on Carlsbad 2022 Spring edition.
