Location Description and History

The Wool Warehouse theatre is a national historic landmark that is presently owned by the Youth development Center (YDI). The Wool warehouse building was constructed in 1929 on First Street NW in albuquerque. The building housed offices of the New Mexico Cooperative Wool Marketing Association, Bond McRae Company (dealers in wool) and the New Mexico - Arizona Wool Warehouse Company. Frank Bond used the building as his grand headquarters in New Mexico, as he had extensive sheep ranching interests in the state. It's Egyptian structural ambiance was due to its main architect, T.Charles Gaastra, who had just gotten back from a trip to Egypt, which obviously influenced his work on this building.

Through the years, the building was passed down to various Bond Family members, until 1974, when the city of Albuquerque used the building as a records warehouse. In 1984 it was bought by Betty and George Luce, who turned the second floor into a theater restaurant, as it was still a classy place, perfect for an upscale dinner theater, as it "recalls an era of casual elegance, with "massive columns featuring Egyptian motifs and Roaring 20's art deco appointments." This building became The Wool Warehouse Theater Restaurant.

The second floor still is the home of The Wool Warehouse Theater, which still has dinner theater activities, as well has hosting weddings and other special events in need of a stage. It encompasses 5000 sq. feet and holds up to 350 people, 250 for dinner theater.

The Luce's renovations of the building activated a spirit hanging around the building, which often happens after old buildings are renewed structurally. Further renovations in the coming years increased the area of spiritual manifestations felt in the building, even in stair case leading to the basement area. Reported phenomena includes;

The unidentified ghost of a man in a double breasted, cream colored suit has appeared near the stage during performances. Thought to be one of the men in the Bond Family.

1985 -During the first production presented in this theater, Stage Manager, Vicki , at first kept seeing a cream-colored thing go past her. Then at intermission, she went to check something on the left side of the stage, and there before her, she saw the apparition of a very clean, very pleasant looking man who was wearing a cream-colored, double-breasted suit, standing right by the prop table, happily watching what was going on, very pleased with the theater production.

In the following years, employees and guests have felt hot and cold spots, and have actually felt a presence among them, watching them. Things and objects in the theater have gone missing, only to reappear in other places in the building. Employees avoided going down the stairs behind the stage area to the basement, unless they really had to go there. It was reported that employees have felt a push from unseen hands while attempting to go down the stairs and had something grab at their ankles. Strange sounds have been heard coming from the walls as well.

Cold spots and a eerie presence have also been felt by customers and employees.

This was our first investigation of the building since YDI had performed its massive renovations. The first phase of the renovations involved the first floor offices, classrooms and after-school programs. The second phase, consisted of renovating the existing theater seating, the banquet hall and building entrance. The third phase included lighting, sound, control room, dressing rooms, the kitchen, the addition of a freight elevator and a media arts and broadcast studio.

Photographs