Mike’s Food Store

Designed by the architect Joseph B. Burwinkle for the New Mexico politician Michael Alarid, the eponymous store was built just before Barelas began its economic decline. Yet it continued to operate for 35 years until closing its doors in 1988, demonstrating that some local businesses prospered even as Route 85 along Fourth Street was being bypassed by the construction of new interstate highways. The corner brick pylon, the ribbon windows, and the commercial store-front entrance are all drawn from the International Style, and point to the progressive image that Albuquerque was adopting for itself in the 1950s. Balancing these references, the stucco finish and brick cornice point to the Territorial Style that New Mexico had adopted as one of its regional idioms in the 1930s. Remodeled as a church on the interior, the building has been preserved as part of the Barelas-South Fourth Street Historic District.