Tucson

[tombarnes]

From downtowntucson.org ......

http://www.downtowntucson.org/downtowntucs...ml#Santa%20Rita

Is this project going forward? I am also curious about what is left of the original building. I had heard that it was remodeled to the point that it was unrecognizable. If anyone has any information, please post.

[tombarnes]

More information on the architect's page. Too bad the original building is gone....

http://www.kbharchitect.com/gallery.php?pr...rcial&id=34#top

[colin]

It has been remodeled over the years, but not necessarily to the point that it's unrecognizable. I'm down there all the time, so I'll try posting some pictures in the next couple of days.

It's all part of the "Rio Nuevo" project: yet another shot in the arm to try to revitalize Downtown Tucson. As a result, older buildings are suffering (people don't like old buildings, right?) and gentrified condos and parking garages are going up.

[MJLO]

I love old buildings, does Tuscon have alot of older architecture colin?

[colin]

I love old buildings, does Tuscon have alot of older architecture colin?

Oh, definitely. Hotel Congress, the train station, Fox Theatre, Rialto Theatre, almost the entire El Presidio neighborhood, most of Barrio Viejo, the Pima County courthouse (there are two buildings, I mean the older one with the dome), San Xavier Mission. I could go on for a long time.

The problem is that most of what you see Downtown is new and butt-ugly. There was a push in the 60's to "modernize" Downtown, which is how we got the now-obsolete Tucson Convention Center and lost several historic blocks of Barrio Viejo. The majority of the Downtown buildings are also from that era.

There's a very good book on Tucson architecture out that highlights many of these places, although a lot of it also goes into other architecture which is newer, but great nonetheless.

[MJLO]

I understand what you are saying. The 60's were all around a bad decade for urban renewal. Grand Rapids Michigan Lost so much history and ornate structures to the boring box buildings and general ugliness that clouded the 60's. I can't wait to go to Tucson. I hate to say it, but as AZ cities go, Arizonas second, seems to have so much more character and history when stacked up to the endless burbs that is Phoenix. I'm really looking forward to this weekend.

[convulso]

There's a very good book on Tucson architecture out that highlights many of these places, although a lot of it also goes into other architecture which is newer, but great nonetheless.

happen to know the name of the book?

the thing i think people fail to see about tucson (and a lot of other really nice cities with no skyline) is that tall buildings do not make a city. i like skylines in mega-urban places like atlanta, but for some places - like tucson - it just feels forced. the street-level life in some parts of tucson is very nice. no high-rises required.

[MJLO]

That's a very good point made. My home town from street level is beautiful, but from far away it looks kinda silly. I could show you some pics. Do you guys have any pics of streetlevel Tucson? I'm going to get down there one of these days and go nuts with the picture posting.

[convulso]

most of my pics are from the area around the city; not at street level. i'm like you, though - i'm planning to get out in photo mode, but i haven't thus far. perhaps this weekend....

the cityscape as defined by skyscrapers is a very american sort of invention. the weirdest contrast between it and old-world city life i've seen firsthand is in new orleans, where skyscrapers like one shell square in the CBD area - complete with strange corporate pavement plazas and abstract fountains, etc. - stand only a few blocks from much older three - to - ten-story buildings built all the way to the curb. the older sections are easily more fun and more alive, although the CBD is by no means dead.

oh, and here's a link to what i think may be the book colin had mentioned....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081652083...glance&n=283155

is that it? looks interesting either way.

[colin]

Yep, that's it.

It's a good read, and has a lot of buildings that you would never really notice or have been demolished.

[DeanofTucson]

"A Guide to Tucson Architecture" by Brooks Jeffery and Annie Nequette.

Tucson will probably never have a big skyline, but we should do more to promote infill and have some mid-rises. We can't keep building single-story buildings on raw desert forever, and that will just make the transportation problems worse.

happen to know the name of the book?

the thing i think people fail to see about tucson (and a lot of other really nice cities with no skyline) is that tall buildings do not make a city. i like skylines in mega-urban places like atlanta, but for some places - like tucson - it just feels forced. the street-level life in some parts of tucson is very nice. no high-rises required.

[DeanofTucson]

The Santa Rita project is going forward. The developer--Pathway Developments--is looking for space Downtown to open a sales office. They've got construction drawings under review by the City, and it is further along than some of the other projects that the Rio Nuevo people like to ballyhoo.

Of course they had hoped to keep Cafe Poca Cosa, but she couldn't wait on them, and the City made an offer she couldn't refuse, to relocate to the big green Pennington Street parking Garage, which is two short blocks north of Santa Rita.

There's nothing left of the original 1904 building, but there is a little bit left of what was added in 1917.

The old building is known for a lot of haunting activity.

From downtowntucson.org ......

http://www.downtowntucson.org/downtowntucs...ml#Santa%20Rita

Is this project going forward? I am also curious about what is left of the original building. I had heard that it was remodeled to the point that it was unrecognizable. If anyone has any information, please post.