FEBRUARY 2004
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Historic DowntownOchoa Street’s Hidden Adobe Treasuresby Ken Scoville
The current church campus is anchored by the Stone Avenue-facing façade that was constructed in 1896, remodeled in 1928, and was the only surviving element when the entire church was razed in 1967, during a time when so much of the Old Pueblo was destroyed for urban renewal. There is an element of irony in that three significant buildings of adobe construction still exist on Ochoa Street: Marist College, built in 1915, Our Lady Chapel, and Cathedral Hall, both constructed in 1916. One can still enjoy this early streetscape on the south side of Ochoa Street, though the multi-story parking garage built to serve La Placita obstructs the view to anyone not actually on Ochoa. Bishop Henry Regis Granjon was the consecrated bishop of the Diocese of Tucson in 1900. He was the motivating force for the construction of Marist College as well as the other two buildings. The inspiration for Marist College came from four Marist brothers who began learning English and teaching at Holy Family Church in 1914. This boys’ school originally accepted boarding and day students from elementary to the sophomore year of high school. There is a legacy of Catholic education in Tucson that lasted at this location until 1968. Our Lady’s Chapel served the spiritual needs not only of the students but, during its founding era, the cathedral parish also used the chapel for services in English, reflecting a growing Anglo population. The cathedral hall completes the three-building complex and provided needed facilities for the growing congregation. The original cathedral was established in the 1860s on the Plaza de la Mesilla (now the grassy island between Broadway and Congress west of Church known as “Veinte de Agosto Park”) and was finally considered complete with the addition of the landmark stone facade and rose window in 1883, just two years after the two towers erected. San Agustin was the first large church to be constructed after the Americans began to arrive following the Gadsden Purchase. Bishop J.B. Salpointe came to Tucson in 1870, years before the church’s completion, and spent more than a decade fund-raising and working with local businesses with the goal of finishing the church. Salpointe sought the stone masonry skills of a Frenchman named Jules Le Flein, who added the rock façade and a circular stone window fashioned from stone for the church that took approximately 20 years to complete. All these efforts would seem for naught with the congregation moving to south Stone Avenue in 1896 and constructing a new Catedral de San Agustin. The old cathedral became a hotel, and later, incredibly, an automotive repair garage. Comments from the Arizona Daily Star in the early 1890s speak of the desire for change. “All new buildings erected in Tucson should be brick or stone since it has been determined that they can be constructed at no greater cost than adobe and are just as cool. The time has come to discard mud houses and adopt the modern style. The future building material for Tucson will be brick and stone. The adobe must go, likewise the mud roof. They belong to the past and with the past they must remain.” This cultural change in Tucson is very evident at the current church campus with the cathedral being masonry but the “old ways” still persisting with the buildings on Ochoa designed by architect Manuel Flores. Flores made a considerable impact on the built environment in Tucson with the Neoclassical Revival style of Marist College and Our Lady’s Chapel. In 1917 his efforts focused on the construction of the Santa Cruz Cathedral. These three architectural treasures on Ochoa Street are rare examples of unfired adobe brick construction of multi-story design. Their historic connection to the impact of the Catholic Church in Tucson from spiritual and educational points of view cannot be understated. Many people in the Tucson community possess cultural memories of these buildings and are striving to preserve not only the memories but the buildings themselves. In 1936, what remained of the original Catedral de San Agustin was demolished; this took a terrible emotional toll on the people whose lives were so connected to the church. Some of the remains are foundation stones marking the church’s location in what is now the park most known for being the location of the Pancho Villa statue. The most spectacular remnant of the original cathedral is now the entrance to the Arizona Historical Society Museum on Second Avenue and Park, thanks to the efforts of George Chambers, who had the vision to save the façade and the stone rosette window from total oblivion. The landmarks on Ochoa Street should not have the same fate. Greeting From The Past
Hotel Congress’ lobby as it appeared in the 1920’s. |
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he construction of churches and schools is a defining milestone in the development of any community, and this was especially true for the isolated adobe village of Tucson in the 1860s. These institutions give a sense of permanence, as many life experiences are celebrated within their sheltering walls. When such community landmarks are demolished, there is a sense of loss of “place” that is not resolved until every last living memory of experience has also ended. The St. Augustine Cathedral as a community institution has just such an unfortunate legacy that was subject to the fleeting whimsy of change, modernism, growth, and the ideology of disposal of the past that has characterized the history of Tucson’s evolving built environment.
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