Navigating Rio Nuevo
By Karen Thoreson
ome Saturday morning in the not-too-distant future, you and I could be riding the trolley through Downtown. We’ll be on our way to meet out-of-town guests at the new hotel and join them for a tour of the University of Arizona Science Center and lunch at a Downtown restaurant. Our guests will want to visit the reconstructed Presidio wall site, shop for tourist souvenirs, and talk about buying one of the new lofts on Congress Street. The day all this happens, we’ll look back at 2003 as the year it all started coming together.
It’s the year the State of Arizona’s funding for Rio Nuevo began. It’s the year a number of our signature projects were approved. Above all, it’s the year private investment dollars, so very critical to Rio Nuevo’s success, began to find their way into Downtown Tucson. Here’s a quick look back at this extraordinary year for Rio Nuevo.
A great many of the goals Rio Nuevo set for 2003 were accomplished. We saw the Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation complete the renovation of the Star Building and continue to make progress on bringing the Fox Theatre back to life. Acquisition of the Thrifty Block on Congress was completed and a private developer will be selected in March.
Renovation of the Historic Depot on Toole moved forward and, as the year ended, was nearly complete. The grand opening is being planned for March of this year. Plans were finalized for the new 4th Avenue Underpass (construction should start this summer) and nearby Depot Plaza acquired a strong private sector partner when Congress Street Redevelopment LLC was selected to play a major role in that new project.
One of the major goals we met during 2003 was the approval of the University of Arizona Science Center. This extraordinary project will span Interstate 10 and the Santa Cruz River and be a world-class addition to our new Downtown.
Plans for the Civic Plaza (including a major parking garage), a new Arena, and a substantial reconfiguration of the Convention Center all started to coalesce during this past year. A request for proposal to select a private developer to construct the Presidio Terrace residential project near the Tucson Water Building should be released next month.
On the West Side, the planning for Tucson Origins Heritage Park was completed and the final report will be presented to the public this month. More museums may be on the way. The past year saw new and exciting discussions begin with the Arizona State Museum and the Arizona Historical Society about the possibility of building facilities on the West Side of Rio Nuevo.
In December we dedicated Jacome Plaza next to the Main Library. The improved open space in the middle of Downtown, designed specifically for small performance groups and the casual lunchtime set, was renamed to honor the Jacome family, which had owned the Jacome’s store at that location for more than thirty years.
As 2003 came to a close, Rio Nuevo also marked the beginning of demolition at the former City Hall Annex on Pennington. Throughout 2004, work will go on to construct a new 570 space parking garage on this site – the Pennington Street Garage – along with 12,000 square feet of new retail space. The garage project is a public-private partnership between the City and The Colton Company. We’ll be parking there by January of 2005 and maybe eating at the 5,000 square foot restaurant that may be located on the roof.
We accomplished a great deal during 2003, but perhaps the most exciting thing that occurred was a major increase in private sector involvement in Downtown and the dollars that come with that. Just one year ago, private sector commitment to Downtown stood at $2 million. Today private pledges have rocketed to nearly $200 million! Private sector involvement has always been critical to the success of Rio Nuevo and the key to a brilliant future for Downtown Tucson. Years from now, when we look back, the dramatic increase in private sector investment in Downtown during 2003 may well be the most significant accomplishment of all.
Karen Thoreson is a Downtown enthusiast and City of Tucson Assistant City Manager. Her primary responsibility is the Rio Nuevo Project and Downtown. If you have questions about Rio Nuevo or suggestions on topics for this column, please contact Ms. Thoreson at kthores1@ci.tucson.az.us.
