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February 1, 2012
Downtown Tucson Celebrates Arizona Centennial With Three Days of Festivities
![AZ_CENT_CELEBRATION_LOGO[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AZ_CENT_CELEBRATION_LOGO1.jpg "AZ_CENT_CELEBRATION_LOGO[1]"){kind=logo}
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 [...]
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February 3, 2012
Free Shuttle to Downtown Area Gem Show Venues
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 [...]
![AZ_CENT_CELEBRATION_LOGO[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AZ_CENT_CELEBRATION_LOGO11-112x110.jpg "AZ_CENT_CELEBRATION_LOGO[1]"){kind=logo}
February 3, 2012
Centennial: Manning House Will Host a Tardeada – a Sunday Afternoon Party
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 [...]
![Isabella Greenway[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Isabella-Greenway1-84x110.jpg "Isabella Greenway[1]")
February 2, 2012
Centennial: Interviews With Ghosts of Tucson’s Past
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 [...]
January 31, 2012
Steinfeld Warehouse Poised for Resident Artists
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 [...]
January 30, 2012
Young Professionals Dress Up for First Fridays
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 [...]
![gem dealers aisha arif jan[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gem-dealers-aisha-arif-jan11-140x78.jpg "gem dealers aisha arif jan[1]")
January 27, 2012
Downtown Once Again Glistens With Gems
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 [...]
![chocolate[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/chocolate12-140x78.jpg "chocolate[1]")
January 25, 2012
Get Ready For a Gourmet Chocolate Factory
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., [...]
January 25, 2012
New Brunch at 47 scott Features Innovative Comfort Food and Signature Cocktails
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 [...]
January 24, 2012
More Facade Improvements Will Add to Downtown Renaissance
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 [...]
January 23, 2012
Applications Being Accepted Now For Downtown Façade Improvement Program
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 [...]
January 18, 2012
Old Pueblo Track Works is Low Bidder for Modern Streetcar
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, [...]
January 18, 2012
Ben’s Bells Will Open Downtown Studio on Friday
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 [...]
January 17, 2012
Public Task Force Will Help With Broadway Widening Project
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 [...]
January 13, 2012
Come Hang Out at brewd, a Coffee Lounge
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 [...]
![mars explorer best[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/mars-explorer-best11-140x78.jpg "mars explorer best[1]")
January 12, 2012
Festival Highlights Tucson as a Leader in Science and Technology
By Teya Vitu Science and technology will take center stage Downtown on February 18 for the first Arizona SciTech Festival, which has some 250 events around the state in January, February and March. Science in the City, presented by 2ndSaturdays, will transform Downtown into one big science center from 2 to 6 p.m. Retailers will [...]
![outside 2 best[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/outside-2-best12-140x78.jpg "outside 2 best[1]")
January 11, 2012
Don’t Miss Out on Downtown History Museum and Its Dillinger Room
By Teya Vitu Did you know the railroad tracks that set off Downtown were once the very eastern edge of Tucson, quite a bit east, at that, of most of the 1880 town? Or that Downtown had 15 car dealerships in the 1920s? Or that there even is an Arizona Historical Society Museum Downtown that [...]
![dillinger[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dillinger11-140x78.jpg "dillinger[1]")
January 11, 2012
Dillinger Days Celebrates Tucson Capture of Notorious Bank Robber
Back in January 1934, John Dillinger and his gang of bank robbers quietly arrived at Hotel Congress. The next few days put Tucson in the national media spotlight as locals figured out that Public Enemy No. 1 was right here in Tucson. For several years now, Hotel Congress has commemorated the Dillinger episode with Dillinger [...]
January 10, 2012
You Can Have a Say in the Future Use of the Steinfeld Warehouse
By Teya Vitu What the new era for the historic Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 West 6th Street, will look like could be decided this week as the public is invited to voice its thoughts about the future uses for the 105-year-old brick warehouse. A charette at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 12, will ask the question [...]
January 9, 2012
Downtown Centennial Celebration Happening February 10-12
A joint Arizona Centennial event will take place Downtown on February 10-12, the weekend just ahead of the day marking the 100th anniversary of Arizona achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Festivities planned include free street concerts on Scott and 6th Avenues, free concerts at the Fox and Rialto Theatres, interactive kids activities, food vendors, [...]
![The Last Call Girlsweb[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Last-Call-Girlsweb11-140x105.jpg "The Last Call Girlsweb[1]")
January 9, 2012
2nd Saturdays Will Rock Downtown This Saturday
The sounds of award-winning jazz and a “spot on” Beatles tribute will drift over Downtown Tucson for the popular 2nd SATURDAYS event scheduled for 4 to 9 p.m. on January 14. The Tucson Jazz Institute’s Ellington Band, winner of the national Ellington Big Band competition last year, will appear for free at the Fox Theatre [...]
January 9, 2012
New ParkWise Head Has a Deep Knowledge of Downtown
Donovan Durband has been named the new administrator for ParkWise, the City program that manages parking meters and several Downtown garages. Durband has deep ties to Downtown and ParkWise. He served on the ParkWise Commission from 2000 to 2008 while he was executive director of the Tucson Downtown Alliance, the predecessor of today’s Downtown Tucson [...]
January 5, 2012
Left Lane on Congress Closed at Scott for Two Weeks
Beginning Thursday, January 5, 2012, at 9 a.m., the left curb lane of Congress Street at Scott Avenue will be closed to traffic to allow work crews from Diversified Construction, under contract to Tucson Electric Power, to perform underground utility work in preparation for the Modern Streetcar Project. The project is scheduled to be completed [...]
January 5, 2012
18 Arts Grants Awarded to Strengthen Cross-cultural Understanding
From now through December 2012, 18 local organizations will create arts-based projects designed to strengthen cross-cultural understanding, increase tolerance and encourage a more civil society. Tucson Pima Arts Council awarded grants totaling $103,963 with funding received from Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Open Society Institute. “These awards illuminate how Tucsonans working in the creative arts [...]
January 4, 2012
Food Trucks Roundup Expands to Benjamin Plumbing Parking Lot
By Teya Vitu The fourth Food Truck Roundup is set for January 9 from 5 to 9 p.m. The first three were so popular that organizer David Aguirre is moving the mobile feast to the Benjamin Plumbing Supply parking lot at Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue, just across the railroad tracks from Dinnerware Artspace. Half [...]
![reilly exterior[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/reilly-exterior11-140x78.jpg "reilly exterior[1]")
January 3, 2012
Reilly Craft Pizza Looking to Open in Spring in Former Reilly Building
By Teya Vitu From the outside, the former Reilly Funeral Home building across from Café Poca Cosa doesn’t look much different than it has for the past two decades. Inside however, Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink, 101 East Pennington Street, is starting to take shape. The Fenton brothers, Tyler and Zach, spent the holiday season, [...]
December 29, 2011
Celebrate Art, Nature and Community at Beyond Tucson
By Teya Vitu Before January 8 comes January 7. January 8, no doubt, will be solemn. January 7 will be all about the outdoors, urban and rural, by the express wishes of Gabe Zimmerman’s family. January 7 will be set aside as Beyond Tucson: Commemorate, Celebrate, Commit. This is the inaugural event for the family’s [...]
![Brandel-World_Traveler_(17)[1][1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Brandel-World_Traveler_17112-140x94.jpg "Brandel-World_Traveler_(17)[1][1]")
December 29, 2011
New Art Exhibit Opening at Pioneer Building
An exhibition of combined media paintings by Barbara Brandel and Lorrie Parsell will open on January 4, in the historic Pioneer Building at 100 North Stone Avenue in downtown Tucson. The exhibition is the seventh in a series organized by the Tucson Pima Arts Council to showcase artwork by Pima County artists in the Pioneer [...]
December 27, 2011
Upcoming Construction and Street Closures in 4th Avenue Area
The 8th Street Drainage Improvement project will bring various street closures in the coming days to the area bounded by 6th Avenue on the west to 3rd Avenue on the east and by 6th Street on the north to Stevens Avenue on the south. This project falls in and around the popular 4th Avenue shopping [...]
December 23, 2011
$7,500 Grants Available for Small Tech Companies to Commercialize New Technology
Small technology companies are eligible to apply for up to $7,500 in Arizona Commerce Authority grants to start the commercialization process for new technology. This pool of $175,000 in AZ Fast Grant money is targeted toward the areas of science/technology, aerospace/defense or renewable energy. The company is required to have a physical presence in Arizona, [...]
![playground sign[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/playground-sign1-140x78.jpg "playground sign[1]")
December 22, 2011
Innovative Playground Lounge on Congress Opening This Week
By Teya Vitu Kade Mislinski sticks to elementary concepts for his Playground lounge, 278 East Congress Street. He calls happy hour “Recess,” the main bar at the corner of Congress and Fifth Avenue is called “The Corner,” another bar is “Detention,” and as for the rooftop bar, “I call it The Roof right now,” Mislinski said. [...]
December 21, 2011
Steinfeld Warehouse Returns to Artists
By Teya Vitu The Warehouse Arts Management Organization (WAMO) now owns the Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 West Sixth Street. It took a five-year saga to get the 105-year-old brick structure in artists’ hands. On the way, there was heartbreak, evictions and a complex three-way deal among the Arizona Department of Transportation, the City and WAMO to [...]
December 20, 2011
Mayor Rothschild Is A Strong Ally for Downtown
By Teya Vitu Downtown was Mayor Jonathan Rothschild’s stomping ground long before he took up his 10th floor roost in City Hall. In fact, his pre-mayoral office for half his life at the Mesch, Clark & Rothschild law firm was only two blocks north of City Hall, tucked in the El Presidio Neighborhood. Rothschild grew [...]
December 19, 2011
Herb Garden, Catering Coming to 17th Street Market
By Teya Vitu The 17th Street Market has seen striking changes in the past few months. The fish counter is gone. The Asian section has been downscaled and, with that, 6,500 square feet of the market were walled off for warehouse storage. On the other hand, CEO Tom Kusian right now is building an herbal [...]
December 19, 2011
New Street Markings for Bicyclists at Congress/4th Avenue/Toole
By Teya Vitu Several new street markings will guide cars and bicycles through the Congress-4thAvenue-Toole intersection. There are new bicycle markings with a pair of chevrons and green strips of paint along the curbs by the Centro Garage and emerging from the 4th Avenue Underpass. These street marking came on December 9 while the underpass [...]
December 14, 2011
Celebrate Christmas Eve with Ballet Tucson’s Nutcracker
Christmas means the Tchaikovsky ballet “The Nutcracker,” and Ballet Tucson will serve up its annual “Nutcracker” on December 22-24 at the Tucson Music Hall. Show times are 7:30 p.m. on December 22, 3 and 7:30 p.m. on December 23 and 3 p.m. on December 24. “The Nutcracker” story is set on Christmas Eve, when Clara [...]
December 14, 2011
Catch the Holiday Spirit with the Parade of Lights on Saturday
By Teya Vitu Tucson still has a small-town feel to it and nothing proves that more than the 17th Annual Downtown Parade of Lights, the homegrown electric showcase with lighted floats made by families, organizations, businesses, sports groups and car clubs. It’s a Tucson twist on the holiday parade and it all starts at 6:30 [...]
December 13, 2011
Holiday Bazaar Returns to Mercado San Agustin
The 4thannual Holiday Bazaar returns to Mercado San Augustin from December 16 to 18. Market hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. The Mercado is located at 100 S. Avenida del Convento at West Congress Street. Showcasing Tucson’s diversity through small business, you can expect to see artisan foods, children’s clothing and toys, [...]
December 13, 2011
Janos is Adding Sidewalk Dining to DOWNTOWN Kitchen + Cocktails
By Teya Vitu Sidewalk dining is coming to DOWNTOWN Kitchen + Cocktails as soon as late December or early January. Famed restaurateur Janos Wilder started cutting the asphalt in front of his restaurant on December 9 to extend the pedestrian area into the parking space in front of DOWNTOWN Kitchen. The sidewalk will wrap around [...]
December 13, 2011
This Weekend: Parade of Lights, Events & Street Closures
Downtown’s 17th Annual Parade of Lights, Sat, Dec 17 The streets of Downtown light up with over 60 participants for this Tucson tradition! Join us to celebrate the holiday season. Bring a chair and find a great spot anywhere along the route for the best views or get there early and get a bleacher seat [...]
December 12, 2011
Parade of Lights Will Fill Downtown With Holiday Cheer on December 17
Floats, live music and brightly decorated vehicles will fill Downtown Tucson with holiday cheer at the 17th Annual Downtown Parade of Lights on December 17, 2011. Thousands will once again pack the streets to watch as the Parade makes its way through Downtown Tucson as it is undergoing a stunning renaissance. Visitors will be able [...]
December 12, 2011
Office Makeover For Local “Good Guys” Ben’s Bells
By Teya Vitu In a local twist on Extreme Makeover, a new office was revealed on December 12 to an exuberantly delighted Jeannette Maré, executive director of the Ben’s Bells Project. Maré was kept in the dark for months as Goodmans Interior Structures renovated the new office she will occupy as Ben’s Bells expands Downtown [...]
December 6, 2011
31 Arts Organizations Split $165,000 in Sustainability Grants
Thirty-one local arts and culture organizations will receive a combined $165,000 in sustainability grants from the Tucson Pima Arts Council. These grants fund nonprofit organizations to address priorities that will help them sustain, thrive and grow during these challenging economic times, according to Leia Maahs, TPAC grants and community cultural development manager. “As government funding [...]
![myles stone[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/myles-stone11-140x78.jpg "myles stone[1]")
December 5, 2011
Borderlands Brewing Starts Pouring Beer
By Teya Vitu First things first about Borderlands Brewing Co., 119 East Toole Avnue. Downtown is not getting another bar or brew pub or nightclub with Borderlands. “We’re a true brewery as opposed to a brew pub. We have no food. We make beer,” said Myles Stone, who owns Bordlerlands with Mike Mallozzi. “We’re structuring [...]
December 2, 2011
Lesco Optique Offers Glasses/frames at its New Downtown Shop
By Teya Vitu Lesco Optical has all sides covered. You can get frames and lenses for as low as $29 on the east side, northwest side, south side and midtown. Plenty of other retailers big and small cover the same bases. Lesco is upping the ante, opening its grandest location Downtown at 25 East Congress [...]
December 1, 2011
You Can Pick the Photos for a Library Barrio Exhibit
Before the 1970s, Tucson’s Downtown area barrios, or neighborhoods, were similar to extended families. Neighborhoods had their own personalities filled with families that knew one another, and merchants that catered to the particular needs of their customers. Pima County Public Library, working in collaboration with the Arizona Historical Society, will create a photo exhibit depicting [...]
![Diane and Lisa[1]](http://www.downtowntucson.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Diane-and-Lisa12-111x110.jpg "Diane and Lisa[1]")
November 30, 2011
2nd Saturdays Will Deliver a Holiday Theme on December 10
Downtown will transform into a little bit of the North Pole on December 10 to make 2nd Saturdays the most festive yet. Similar to last year’s December 2nd Saturdays, the holiday theme will feature a Santa’s workshop (at MEB Property Management, 120 E. Congress St.), the official lighting of the Downtown holiday tree, a holiday [...]
November 29, 2011
Another Food Truck Roundup Coming on December 5
By Teya Vitu The next Food Truck Roundup is coming December 5 to Dinnerware Artspace, 119 East Toole Avenue from 5 to 9 p.m. One suggestion: come early. The first food truck roundup at Dinnerware shocked organizers and food truck vendors as some 500 people dropped by a stretch of road that usually would [...]
November 28, 2011
Cluck, Cluck! Tour Downtown’s Backyard Chicken Coops on December 3
You’re in cluck! It’s once again time for the Food Conspiracy’s most popular event – the annual Chicken Coop Tour. You’d be amazed how many people around town raise chickens in their backyards. Plenty of them are right in the Downtown neighborhoods. Food Conspiracy’s self-guided tour is a great way to gather information before bringing [...]
November 21, 2011
Holiday Events Come to Main Gate Square Every Friday
Every Friday beginning November 25, University Boulevard will be transformed into “Holiday Boulevard.” The first Friday will be during Main Gate Square’s final Bear Down Friday and will feature a press conference with Santa Claus, a sleigh with Ben’s Bells, a tree decorated with kindness garland, donation drives, holiday music and more. Attendees of Main Gate [...]
November 17, 2011
This Weekend: El Tour Fiesta, El Tour Closures & Downtown Events
El Tour de Tucson Ride & Fiesta! The bicyclists have been gearing up for cycling-world renowned El Tour de Tucson. With it comes a day-long fiesta at Armory Park & free entry at the Children’s Museum! Click here for the schedule STREET CLOSURES: (also denoted by red Xs on map below) Starting at 6PM [...]