Antiques of all types will fill historic Downtown Tucson on May 27, 2012, as the Downtown Tucson Partnership and A Perfect Pantry launch a series of summer antique fairs at the Old Pueblo Garage, located on Congress Street east of Church Avenue. The series will kick off on May 27, 2012, and will continue on [...]

It’s never been easier to go Downtown, and to find plenty of accessible, affordable parking to start your visit to the many businesses and events Downtown, on 4th Avenue, and at Main Gate Square. ParkWise is offering a “construction special” flat rate at the new Centro Garage, 345 East Congress Street, which greets motorists at [...]

By Teya Vitu Tucson’s tallest building, the glass tower now called One South Church, was meant to have a twin tower. Instead, a 12-foot-tall utility plug for a second tower has decorated the Stone Avenue side of the plaza for 25 years. Jeannette Maré took immediate notice of this concrete stump when she moved her [...]

By Teya Vitu Bright paint, cool neon and a polka-dot bikini now adorn the Pueblo Hotel & Apartments neon sign that had stood dark, faded and rusted at the corner of 6th Avenue and 12th Street for a good four decades. Restored 1950’s Tucson neon history has started lighting the nighttime streetscapes in recent weeks. [...]

The following information was provided by the Tucson Modern Streetcar weekly newsletter, also found at TucsonStreetcar.com. If you have any questions or concerns, call the info line at 624-5656 to speak to a team member about the project. Please note: Roadway closures indicate areas where roads are closed to vehicular and bicycle traffic. Pedestrian access [...]

By Teya Vitu Tucson will have the most spectacular sunset, perhaps ever, on May 20. This will have nothing to do with thunderstorm clouds radiating all sorts of color. This sky show will feature just the sun and the moon. A total solar eclipse (technically, an annular solar eclipse) will travel across the Pacific Ocean [...]

By Teya Vitu Look now and you see the Mercado San Agustín, 30 luxury homes with varying Mexican colonial styles and the six-story senior housing complex now being called Sentinel Plaza in the finishing stages of construction. Piece by piece, since 2005, the Gadsden Company, at a very measured pace, has given the south edge [...]

By Teya Vitu Five women want you to shop Downtown, on 4th Avenue and at Main Gate Square while streets are torn up for streetcar construction. Not a one of them owns a business in the construction zone. They own something far more powerful: a Facebook page. They are calling it Mind Our Own Businesses. [...]

The Children’s Museum Tucson, 600 South 6th Avenue, launches Science Sundays on May 20 – the same day that a grand science event takes place overhead: a total eclipse of the sun. The Planetary Institute kicks off this summer program with solar eclipse activities. The annular eclipse can be seen the best in Page, Arizona; [...]

Tucson Pima Arts Council has announced the slate of nominees for the 2012 Lumies Arts and Business Awards, which celebrate the outstanding businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals who help build the unique and distinctive character of Tucson and Pima County. Nominees for this year’s Lumies include bedrocks of the arts and culture community whose patronage [...]

The Tucson you know today would never have happened without the railroad. Modern Tucson was born the day the first Southern Pacific railroad pulled into town in 1880. There’s no better way to celebrate trains in Tucson than with National Train Day on May 12 at the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum at the Historic Tucson [...]

2nd Saturdays Downtown will reconfigure its May event in order to keep the popular urban street festival thriving during construction for the Modern Streetcar. Scott Avenue will have an additional closure from Broadway to Jackson Street, one block south of Broadway Boulevard, and will still feature the outdoor music stage. The Cricket Kids’ area will move [...]

First Fridays takes to the runway May 4 with Tucson’s premier fashion show at the Fox Theatre. “Canvas: Art on the Runways” starts at 8 p.m. with a VIP reception at 7 p.m. More than 130 models and 30 hair/makeup artist will bring fashions alive in this fashion show staged by First Fridays runway producer [...]

Come May 27, you’ll have to come Downtown to enjoy the delicacies of Janos Wilder. Janos and J BAR at the Westin La Paloma Resort will serve their last meals and cocktails on May 26, meaning DOWNTOWN Kitchen + Cocktails will be the only Janos dining option for now. Wilder leaves Westin La Paloma after 15 years in the foothills, [...]

The Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association (TKMA) will deliver the 27th Annual Tucson Folk Festival on May 5 and 6 at and around El Presidio Park. The festival will feature five stages, including the brand new Patio Stage located on the east entrance patio of the Tucson Museum of Art. The other four stages are: Plaza [...]

By Teya Vitu Vodka, jalapeño peppers, bacon and duck are the primary food groups at Elliott’s on Congress, 125 East Congress Street. Owner Billy Elliott likes to describe his food and drink offerings as American favorites with a unique twist – often enough involving vodka, jalapeños, bacon or duck. That could be bacon infused vodka [...]

The following information was provided by the Tucson Modern Streetcar weekly newsletter, also found at TucsonStreetcar.com. Downtown This area of the project includes Congress Street and Broadway through downtown from Granada Avenue to 5th Avenue. Traffic control in this area is as follows: ADVANCE NOTICE: On May 7, the contractor will begin removing traffic islands [...]

By Teya Vitu Julie Ray has been the woman around Downtown the past six years, heavily involved with Tucson Meet Yourself, 2nd Saturdays, the Tucson Pima Arts Council and a series of temporary public art projects. Michael Tucker for the past year or so has brought social media savvy to 61 businesses along road construction [...]

By Teya Vitu Shopping is as easy as ever on 4th Avenue – and now you can check it out for yourself with a new 4 for 4th shopping card that will add up to a $4 discount. The idea is to spend at least $4 at four shops, collect a sticker at each shop, [...]

Do you love books and bikes? If so, you can combine these two passions by becoming a volunteer for the Pima County Public Library’s Bookbike – a three-wheeled non-motorized bookmobile project. Please attend the volunteer orientation at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library on Saturday, April 28 at 8:30 a.m. Click here for the volunteer [...]

The City of Tucson began a five-month project to provide safety, security and aesthetic upgrades to the Downtown Ronstadt Transit Center (RTC). The work is scheduled to be complete in mid-September. All work will be contained on-site and will be conducted during normal business hours. The transit center will remain fully operational. The scope of [...]

Luther Propst, who founded the Sonoran Institute in 1991, has announced he will step down as its chief executive once a new CEO is hired. Propst championed the Institute’s move Downtown last summer. “For 22 years, the Sonoran Institute has been a consuming part of my life and I love this work immensely,” Propst said. [...]

The Aurora Foundation will host a special event about disability justice and emerging discourses, to coincide with Law Day on May 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Maynards Drawing Room, 400 North Toole Avenue. Aurora is Southern Arizona’s leading organization dedicated to improving the lives of disabled women, to building mutually supportive and inclusive [...]

Applications are now open for food vendors for the 39th Annual Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival running October 12 through the 14. Every year, Tucson Meet Yourself selects and invites Food Vendors to the Festival based on their connection to their cultural cuisine and to the traditional foods of their folk & ethnic communities. Ethnic [...]

Congress Street will be closed to vehicular traffic between Toole Avenue and Stone Avenue for approximately four months. This curb to curb construction will require 24 hour closures. Despite the construction, downtown Tucson and areas along Fourth Avenue are accessible to the traveling public. “Businesses along the construction route are open, accessible and ready to [...]

Here is the latest release on the Modern Streetcar construction in the Downtown, 4th Avenue and Main Gate areas from the City of Tucson: Downtown This area of the project includes Congress Street and Broadway through downtown from Granada Avenue to 5th Avenue. Traffic control in this area is as follows: During the week of [...]

By Teya Vitu For nearly 50 years, the Tucson Indian Center has been a haven for urban Native Americans to find their way in the big city or just keep in touch with tribal traditions. The center is a Downtown fixture, right on Congress Street, yet few other than folks who go there have any [...]

By Teya Vitu Right now, chances are you won’t find Roy Wilson at his Southwest Bee Supply Co., 844 South 6th Avenue at 19th Street. He’s got his hands full with bees. That could mean collecting honey from about 100 hives he has set up along the southern fringes of the Tucson metro. Or he [...]

Local First Arizona, a coalition of locally-owned businesses, is now publishing a Small Wonders Map in Tucson. This beautiful CD-sized map will highlight local, independent restaurants and retail shops in the Main Gate, 4th Avenue & Downtown area. The map will also feature a list of events in the area throughout the year. Advertising your [...]

By Teya Vitu The very colorful band shell sits behind the short wall enclosing St. Augustine Cathedral, sparingly used since its dedication in May 2009. Word apparently has not gotten out that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson is more than willing to rent out the Monsignor Arsenio S. Carrillo Placita, 192 Stone Stone Avenue, [...]

Cinema Carnival will launch the 21st Arizona International Film Festival, the longest running and largest film festival in Arizona, on Friday, April 13, at 6 p.m. at the Crossroads Festival. But the heart of the festival for its 17-day run through April 29 is The Screening Room, 127 East Congress Street. The Screening Room will show nearly 50 of [...]

Modern Streetcar construction might be closing Congress Street, but it’s not stopping 2nd Saturdays! On April 14, 2nd Saturdays will continue its International Carnaval event with all of the vendors and outdoor entertainment venues that you love relocated to accommodate the closures. The Cricket Kids Area will move to the Chase Bank parking lot on [...]

A new exhibition of paintings, mixed media and photography by K. Loren Dawn and Gary Mackender is on display in the lobby and in Suite 109 of the historic Pioneer Building, 100 North Stone Avenue. This show is the eighth in a series of exhibitions organized by the Tucson Pima Arts Council to showcase artwork [...]

By Teya Vitu Readers who get to the back of the Tucson Weekly have gotten a sense where Gustavo Arellano is coming from with his weekly ¡Ask a Mexican! column. More often than not, he’ll open responses to reader questions with “Dear Gabacho,” and his persona foresees a Reconquista by Hispanics. ¡Ask a Mexican! has [...]

The annual Lumies Arts & Business Awards will feature a new category this year recognizing an Outstanding Public Art Partner, an organization or business whose inclusion of public art in their property has a positive impact on the community around it. The Lumies Award Ceremony will be held June 15 at the historic El Casino [...]

Wristbands are now on sale at both Zia Records locations for the Tucson Weekly’s Spring Club Crawl taking place on April 21. Advance price is $8 or $10 the night of Club Crawl at all the entrances. Club Crawl is Tucson’s largest music festival with more than 25 stages of live music covering more than [...]

Traffic will continue to flow Downtown, even while Congress Street is closed for Modern Streetcar construction. On Monday, April 9, Toole and 6th Avenues will close overnight to allow crews to re-stripe and install temporary traffic signals. Both roads will be able to be used as detours during Congress construction. (See a larger version of [...]

Celebrate music, dance and art at the Spring Arts Block Party happening at the Children’s Museum Tucson on Saturday, April 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Presented with local drum and dance group Batucaxé, families can enjoy many festivities including making masks, puppets, tile painting, crowns, music with the University of Arizona Pep Band [...]

City High School hosts the 4th annual Pennington Street Block Party on Friday, April 20. The event highlights youth creativity, learning, and community involvement. This free, family-friendly festival is from 4 to 7 p.m. along Pennington Street in the heart of Downtown Tucson. The Block Party is an annual event that showcases, celebrates, & encourages [...]

By Teya Vitu Out of sight and out of mind of just about everybody, the Luis G. Gutierrez Bridge has strikingly taken form across the Santa Cruz River since June 20, 2011, about a quarter mile south of Congress Street. By the first week of July, the bridge – known as the Cushing Street Bridge [...]

The Tucson Young Professional’s will be turning up the Latin heat with dinner & dancing at the April 6 First Fridays event. The festivities start at 7:30 p.m. at the Tucson Museum of Art, 140 North Main Avenue. Attendees can enjoy a savory menu of spicy Latin cuisine from Café a la Cart and feel [...]

You’ll still be able to get around Downtown as construction begins for the Modern Streetcar. A new map (pdf) shows existing traffic flow and detours that will ensure that it’s still easy to find your way around Downtown Tucson. UPDATE: Here is the latest from the Modern Streetcar website: Downtown This area of the project [...]

From The Rialto to the Fox Theatre, Downtown Tucson will resemble the Caribbean for the next 2nd Saturdays on April 14  with food, music, street performers, tropical costumes and merchant specials for Carnaval. Beginning with a Brazilian procession, the event will feature steel drums, African and Brazilian music, Jazz, Dixieland, Hip Hop, Reggae and Latin [...]

Moctoberfest is an April Fool’s carnival, beer festival and community arts fundraiser for Many Mouths One Stomach, the curators off the hugely revered All Souls Procession. Moctoberfest will be staged from noon to midnight on March 31 at the Mercado San Agustín, 100 S. Avenida del Convento. Pre-sale tickets are $14 or $20 at the [...]

Enjoy the pleasures of food and wine while bidding on fabulous art, luxurious trips, fine wine, and more at the fifth annual CRUSH Wine • Food • Art Festival on March 30 at the Tucson Museum of Art. This popular festival is a major fundraiser for the museum and sells out every year. The CRUSH [...]

By Teya Vitu Madden Media is adding social media coaching to its stable of nationwide travel publications. CEO Kevin Madden is finding that many Tucson small business owners don’t make the most of social media to advance their businesses. “They say, ‘I know I need to be doing social media and all this digital stuff. [...]

It’s that time again for the 4th Avenue Spring Street Fair, which will fill the Avenue with more than 250,000 during its run on March 23, 24 and 25. The hours each day are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Street Fair involves more than 400 arts and crafts booths and 35 or so food [...]

By Teya Vitu Façade improvement grants could restore the gleaming 1916 façade of The Chicago Store and bring some of the original 1929 panache back to the Pioneer Building. Both are finalists in the third round of the Downtown Tucson Partnership’s Façade Improvement Program, along with City High School, which wants to restore the 1941 [...]

By Teya Vitu Contemporary art is contemporary life. Many cities, like Tucson, may have a Museum of Contemporary Art, but contemporary art itself is integral to life all around us. Cutting to the chase: it’s about wine, cheese, after work spirited conversation and an hour with Univesity of Arizona art professor Paul Ivey. Ivey is [...]

Bike Fest 2012 returns to Tucson for six weeks beginning the weekend of March 17 with Cyclovia and the criterium bike race. Many local groups will be hosting bicycle events to inspire riders of all ages and skill levels. Bike Fest serves as an umbrella network for nearly 20 bike-friendly events such as the third [...]

The Tucson Museum of Art Artisan’s Market begins today and lasts through the weekend at 140 North Main Avenue from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. It has been recently expanded to include more than 140 of the Southwest’s best artisans and will have one-of-a-kind gifts available. Choose from jewelry, yard art, paintings, photography, mixed media [...]

By Teya Vitu If you build a streetcar, they will come. That has been demonstrated across the country with the 21st century streetcar. The streetcar in Denver brought 7.8 million square feet of commercial development from 2004 to 2009. The Charlotte streetcar added 9.8 million square feet. But what will come in Tucson? Downtown, 4th [...]

The Downtown Tucson Partnership has announced the three finalists for their Façade Improvement Program, which provides financial assistance to Downtown building owners and tenants to improve the appearance of Downtown streetscapes in anticipation of the arrival of the Modern Streetcar. Two or three of the finalists will receive up to $100,000 to help restore their [...]

By Teya Vitu The diving lady neon sign, perched above 6th Avenue for maybe 60 or more years, came down March 13 for its long-awaited rehabilitation to its 1950s glowing splendor. By mid-April, neon should be blazing again through the night at the Pueblo Hotel & Apartments office building, 145 South 6th Avenue, the first [...]

By Teya Vitu A temporary Small Business Administration loan refinance program can help small businesses save up to 30 percent in monthly real estate loan payments. This temporary SBA 504 refinancing program can reduce the annual percentage rate of a business loan from a typical rate of about 6.5 percent to about 5.5 percent, said [...]

By Teya Vitu You might have a few questions about Revolutio, the new, eclectic boutique at 43 South 6th Avenue that leans toward women’s fashions but, by no means, stops there. The first question could be about the name, Revolutio. No, there is not a missing “n”. Owner Heather Lindquist went for a Latin spelling. [...]

By Teya Vitu If you didn’t look too close, you may not have noticed that a dozen Tucson senior citizens were dancing with the cast of Up With People. No, these seniors did not share the 2ndSaturday stage with Up With People, nor will they dance with the young international cast at the March 16 [...]

Downtown Tucson Partnership is looking for the right person to serve in our Economic Development department as a Development Officer. Details are in our job postings … please let us know if you or someone you know is interested in joining our fun team!

By Teya Vitu How often are you in some downtown somewhere, even Tucson, and you walk right by a restaurant or two or 10 without ever giving a thought to going inside? We all do it. We have to. We can’t just stop at every eatery we come upon. What can happen, though, is we [...]

By Teya Vitu Six years of Modern Streetcar planning will translate into streetcar action with the track installation set to start by the end of April. Congress Street, Broadway, a section of 4th Avenue, University Boulevard and 2nd Street through the University of Arizona will all have driving restrictions, especially through the summer months, and [...]

You have a chance to help the Centennial Park Project transform what is currently a vacant lot into an attractive pocket park to commemorate Arizona’s Statehood Centennial in 2012. The park will create a pedestrian oasis for citizens and visitors, featuring a curving walkway, benches, landscaping, and panels to interpret Tucson’s rich history. A benefit [...]

Arizonans from all walks of life will cheer the troops and wave American flags at a long overdue parade to welcome home returning servicemen and women from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Saturday parade on March 31 begins at 10:30 a.m. at Stone Avenue and Pennington Street, outside the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. [...]

Spring cleaning should leave some room at home for some spring shopping at the Tucson Museum of Art’s 20th Annual Spring Artisans Market. The market is open each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 16, 17 and 18. It features more than 140 of the Southwest’s finest artisans, and this time, for [...]

By Teya Vitu Back in November, David Aguirre tried out a culinary arts experiment. What would happen if you collected a half dozen food trucks on the tiny dirt parking lot outside Dinnerware Artspace, 119 East Toole Avenue? This would happen on a Monday evening, a time when Toole is not exactly jam packed. Promotion [...]

By Teya Vitu Location, location, location sure does make a difference for June’s Corner Store, which opened at its new location January 18 at 143 North Stone Avenue, right next door to the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. Owner June Hale simply moved her store three blocks north on Stone Avenue, but plenty of downtowners [...]

The2012  St. Patrick’s Day Parade will feature include floats, military units, local dignitaries, media and entertainment personalities and civic, cultural and social groups. The Tucson parade has a 25-year history and provides a good time for the entire family. The St. Patrick’s Day Festival opens at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 17, at El Presidio Park [...]

Criterium bicycle racing is the two-wheel equivalent to NASCAR, except you can see the competitors and get way closer to the action. The Athlete Octane Old Pueblo Grand Prix will be a classic Downtown criterium (or crit) – the quintessential American-style bike race concentrated around a few city blocks with lots of turns, very high [...]

By Teya Vitu Agustín Brasserie is what the folks at Mercado San Agustín, 100 South Avenida del Convento, came up with for their restaurant anchor. The simple but refined French bistro is expected to open March 20 at the emerging public market in the Menlo Park Neighborhood. “We’re sticking with everything that is super simple,” [...]

Construction is set to start on the 3.9-mile Modern Streetcar that will link the University of Arizona Medical Center, Main Gate Square, 4th Avenue, Downtown and the Mercado District of Menlo Park. The public can get a close look at what this streetcar construction will entail at a series of three pre-construction open houses on [...]

The sounds of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young will ring out in the west end of Downtown Tucson on March 10 with Five Way Street playing a two-hour free tribute at the Fox Theatre for 2nd Saturdays Downtown on March 10. Vendors, classic cars, merchant specials, food trucks and the Cricket Kids’ Area will all [...]

The 3rd annual “Water Festival: Synergy of Art, Science, and Community” will fill the Armory Park Center, 220 South 5th Avenue, inside and out on Sunday, March 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Water Festival raises awareness, promotes stewardship, and fosters creative expression about our water future through dialogue and activities with artists, [...]

Cyclovia Tucson will once again transform 5 miles of Downtown  streets into a car-free, family-friendly, vibrant place to move, play, explore, and meet your fellow residents, on Sunday, March 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cyclovia Tucson invites people of all ages and abilities to come out and participate in this free event via [...]

For one week each March, Tucson becomes the haven for many of the world’s premiere chamber musicians. The Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival is a way to see the very best in chamber music right here in Downtown Tucson. The Chamber Music Festival will fill the Leo Rich Theatre with the sounds of small classical [...]

Children and their families are invited to participate in the Wealth of Health resource fair taking place at the Children’s Museum Tucson on Saturday, March 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will feature healthy, hands-on activities such as rock climbing, Wii fitness games as well as an interactive musical performance by Planet [...]

By Teya Vitu Tony Rivera is bringing local pedi-cab service out of the dark. A few bicycle-powered cab services pedal the late-night bar scene in the 4th Avenue/University Boulevard sector. Rivera is building a day-time transport and delivery service with University Pedi-Cabs and Blue Sky Deliveries rolling throughout the Downtown-UA area. He has three electrically [...]

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman will visit Tucson on February 28 for a public panel discussion and community conversation on Creative Placemaking. The conversation starts at noon at the Leo Rich Theatre, 260 South Church Avenue. The chairman’s visit to Tucson is prompted by his interest in learning more about the Tucson [...]

By Teya Vitu A Perfect Pantry is one of those stores where you can’t help but smile. Owner Amy Pike makes it a point to add an element of fun to every single item. Take the rubber gloves in the kitchen section. They come in a variety of vibrant colors. “You can have rubber gloves [...]

By Teya Vitu You see it every day these days, older adults running marathons, riding in the El Tour de Tucson – living active, vigorous lives on their own, often fitter than their younger compatriots. Retirement age no longer means retiring from the essence of an active life. On the contrary, the Mature Generation (pre-Baby [...]

By Teya Vitu Scaffolding is up at the Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 West 6th Street, as structural repairs got started earlier in February, a first step to get the 105-year-old brick structure ready for its new life as an arts hub. Meanwhile, conceptual planning for the interior calls for turning the loading dock area in the [...]

By Teya Vitu Think of fringe theater as a very distant cousin of the freestyle dance that wraps up the season at “Dancing With the Stars”.  Remember Marie Osmond’s perplexing ragdoll freestyle dance? Distant cousin is the operative phrase. Freestyle is the active, breathing element that drives fringe theater. Pretty much anything goes. It’s certainly [...]

By Teya Vitu Science and technology will be in the air – and the Main Library, the Children’s Museum and more than a dozen Downtown businesses – for Science in the City taking place from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 18. You’d expect a science and technology festival at a museum, but this [...]

Pursuant to the Request For Interest for the Marist College (see, http://www.downtowntucson.org/invest/opportunities/), we are arranging tours. Please email us (econdev@downtowntucson.org) or call us (520-837-6508) to arrange a date and time!

Grand ceremonies will open the Arizona Centennial Celebration Downtown Tucson at 4 p.m. on Friday, February 10, to mark the 100th birthday of our state. Mayor Jonathan Rothschild will raise the American flag that flew over Downtown Tucson on Febuary 14, 1912 as Arizona became the 48th state. A century of planes will fly overhead. [...]

By Teya Vitu Whatever you think of soul music, Kevin and Tanishia Hamilton will give you a whole new way to look at it with their Centennial Soul Celebration. Kevin Hamilton would rather describe the February 10 event at the Fox Theatre as a show than a concert. “It’s a variety show,” Hamilton said. “My [...]

By Teya Vitu The last three-story adobe building in Tucson — the Marist College — may have a thriving future. That’s what a team of Downtown and historic enthusiasts are trying determine before Arizona’s centennial arrives. The Downtown Tucson Partnership has posted a Request for Interest (RFI) to gauge developer interest to restore the three-story [...]

Ride the free Gem Show Shuttle to all the major Downtown-area Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase venues. The free shuttle runs all day (7am to 7pm), seven days a week, connecting key parking areas with the major show locations. Park at Pennington Street Garage and board the shuttle next to the Ronstadt Transit Center at [...]

By Teya Vitu Back in 1912, the tardeada was a way of Sunday afternoon life in Tucson, especially among Hispanic families and friends. The Mexican tradition brought with it music and dancing and a good time for all. The tardeada tradition will be revived for the tail end of the three-day Arizona Centennial Celebration Downtown [...]

By Teya Vitu What better time than the Arizona Centennial celebration to visit with figures of the past, those names etched in the annals of Tucson over the past 100 years? Of course, the folks who put their stamp on Tucson in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s aren’t with us any more, but 10 famous [...]

By Teya Vitu If you’re a fan of the monthly 2nd Saturdays events, you’ll be three times the fan of the Arizona Centennial Celebration Downtown Tucson that will fill Downtown streets and venues February 10, 11 and 12. If you’ve somehow never made it to 2nd Saturdays, this is the perfect chance to come Downtown [...]

By Teya Vitu A vision is taking shape for the next chapter of the 105-year old Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 West 6th Street, which is now owned by the Warehouse Arts Management Organization. Imagine as soon as the next couple years seeing artists living in the portion of Steinfeld along 6th Street and commercial arts enterprises [...]

First Fridays is back at the Tucson Museum of Art at 7:30 p.m. on February 3 to give young professionals a chance to socialize in the midst of the museum’s current exhibition, “Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray.” This First Fridays, with the support of Arizona Tech Council, will also celebrate the science [...]

By Teya Vitu Downtown once again becomes the gathering spot this January 28 through February 12 for the worldwide elite in the gem industry who flock each year to the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase. This is the world’s biggest gem show and plenty of dealers rake in the lion’s share of their annual [...]

By Teya Vitu Serious chocolate snobs should be overjoyed with what Barbara Fox crafts at her Downtown chocolate factory. She’s the one-woman show behind Chocolate Fox, a tiny 200-square foot chocolate wonderland tucked into the recesses behind Kade Mislinski’s HUB Restaurant & Ice Creamery and recently opened Playground Lounge. Chocolate Fox, 270 East Congress St., [...]

47 scott is opening for Saturday brunch starting January 28th.  The restaurant will open at 10am and serve their trademark modern comfort food along with several new and innovative brunch dishes.   Ciaran Weise, manager of 47 scott’s renowned cocktail program, has created a signature bloody mary and classic brunch libations like mimosas and bellinis will [...]

By Teya Vitu   New and old buildings have worked hand in hand for the amazing Downtown renaissance the past three years. The 1910s and 1920s architecture lays the foundation for the popular Downtown, and the Façade Improvement Program has helped bring a half dozen historic structures back to their glory. Look around Downtown and [...]

The Downtown Tucson Partnership is currently accepting applications for the 2012 Façade Improvement Program, which provides financial assistance to Downtown building owners and tenants to improve the appearance of Downtown streetscapes in anticipation of the arrival of the Modern Streetcar. The Façade Improvement Program stimulates the redevelopment of Downtown Tucson, assists in the preservation or [...]

The apparent low bidder for the Modern Streetcar Project is Old Pueblo Track Works with a bid of $55,875,115. The Engineers’ Estimate for this project is $62,455,529. The City opened bids on January 17. The apparent low bid contractor will not be recognized as the official low bidder until all required documents, such as bonds, [...]

By Teya Vitu Jeannette Maré has made a cottage industry out of kindness with her Ben’s Bells Project. Ben’s Bells started in her garage eight years ago as a way to channel her grief in the year following the sudden death of her son, Ben, who was not quite three years old. Two years of [...]

The City of Tucson and Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) are accepting applications for a Citizen Task Force to help shape improvements to Broadway Boulevard, mainly adding traffic, transit and bicycle lanes. To form the Task Force, applications have been mailed to about 8,500 residents in and around the Broadway project corridor, which extends from Euclid [...]

By Teya Vitu Each granite-topped table at brewd, a coffee lounge, has only three chairs with an empty space on the fourth side. That’s not the only variation upon the norm at brewd, opening January 14 at 39 North 6th Avenue. There’s the spelling and lower-cased nature of “brewd,” for instance. “It was different,” Kate [...]