[vertex]

Tired of clogging up the phoenix development thread with flame wars? Here's your chance to discuss the status of historic buildings in metro Phoenix.

Use this thread to discuss anything related to pre-war or post-war architecture. You're encouraged to post links, articles, and photos of buildings that are threatened.

I have some links to websites that may be of interest. Many of these have been previously posted elsewhere in SSP.

The Arizona Preservation Foundation (http://www.azpreservation.org/c_endangered.php), including its' list of Arizona's most endangered buildings.

The Philidelphia Architects and Buildings (http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/view_location.cfm/NULL,NULL,AZ0013,26,1?PJ_GRID_Page=1&#Projects) website, which keeps a terrific nationwide database of historic buildings, including over 300 in Maricopa county.

The blog http://goodbyewarehousedistrict.blogspot.com/ keeps a pretty good record of many of the historic/quasi-historic buildings found there, including the infamous Sun Merc.

[vertex]

Let's begin with the the Modern Phoenix Neighborhood Network (http://www.modernphoenix.net/), a website featuring (mostly) local, mid-century architecture.

Unfortunately, a lot of the buildings featured are threatened, or have already been demolished. The Valley National Bank branches from the 1960's come to mind.

The Tempe Dome bank (http://www.modernphoenix.net/vnb/tempedome.htm) is now gone, although ASU intend's to preserve the dome shell.

And there are plans to radically change the branch at 44th st. and Camelback (http://www.modernphoenix.net/vnb/henrycamelback.htm).

Western Savings also contributed some terrific bank branch architecture to the valley. The Washburn Piano building (http://www.modernphoenix.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=469&highlight=washburn) on 20th st. and Camelback was a good example. Unfortunately, that is gone as well.

[Hysonk]

The Valley Bank Building at 44th and Camelback was one of the landmarks that my uncle first showed to us when we moved to Phoenix back in 1968. I had never seen something so amazing. The other cool thing was the Phoenix bird at Town and Country. It's still there and hopefully will remain.

[soleri]

Town & Country is one artifact I fear is doomed. The City Council granted them much greater density, so the owners are no longer committed to its preservation. The rents have skyrocketed in the center not for any market reasons but because the owners appear to be forcing out long-term tenants like Jutenhoops. The rambling, sloping structures are probably more appropriate to Rancho Palos Verdes than Phoenix but it's one of the nicest outdoor public spaces in the Valley. Before Starbucks, the coffee house Dos Baristas was probably the pleasantest of hang-outs.

And don't forget this is where Pizzeria Bianco started (and Rancho Pinot, too).

[PHX31]

Any pics of the Town & Country you speak of?

I'm starting to come around slightly to mid-century architecture. Like Soleri has mentioned "there is a lag time in terms of public consciousness. We may not care now but we probably will later when the buildings are gone." And that may very well become true, it has already happened with much of Phoenix's pre-war stock.

The only thing is that this mid-century stuff is so damn ugly (again, though, it grows on you), it just looks shabby and shoddy and most likely uses much cheaper styles of materials (as opposed to the pre-war stuff). And to top it all of, much of it is auto-centric, coming about when the car was king, and is non-urban, which again, seems to be what everyone on this forum craves.

To me people on this forum enjoying mid-century architecture is just like having some kind of crazy bed-fellow or mistress. All day you're out preaching the qualities and positives of having an urban society that can embrace non auto-oriented transit or be much more pedestrian in scale, but at night you go home and sleep with your whorish dark-sided mid-late-century architecture slut which goes against everything you stand for.

[soleri]

^if I had to choose, it would be the pre-war beaux-arts style of architecture. Those kind of buildings define the street much better than the car-oriented modernist stuff. But as we all know, Phoenix is one hell of a car town, so we have to celebrate ourselves in context.

You see the midcentury style probably a little better in the downtown Scottsdale area (Valley Ho, Bon Vie, et al). Every now and then I come across a really nice example of a good redo and get a bit of buzz. One of my favorite buildings of this style, btw, is at 1st St and Willetta, the brick Valley National Bank branch, now a charter school. The proportions are perfect and the materials are solid. There's a smattering of buildings on 1st St north of Roosevelt, and some fine examples are Camelback Rd by Al Beadle and Ralph Haver. The building housing the furniture store Red is, by any standard, a beauty.

A mecca for midcentury modern is Palm Springs. LA, of course, has lots of fine stock. Raising the level of consciousness about this style is important, needless to say since so many have been destroyed.

[combusean]

Why anyone would make a case for saving Town and Country is beyond me. Its interior is a dismal maze of courtyards and deadend pathways into struggling small retailers, while the businesses that are lucky to have street frontage do quite well.

I think the new Camelback East plan will leave significant buffers between Camelback and any allowed development, effectively asphalting a massive parking lot out front. But even still, T&C's future on the chopping block is eagerly anticipated for additional height.

The Arches in Tempe, however, they at least stuck the parking in back and I kind of liked the quaintness of it, but most of that is gone now as well as is Hogi Yogi. Gentle Strength was kinda cool as an old lumber yard in the middle of downtown. Club Rio is more the kid's memories than the architecture fan's, but still. I don't even remember the former president's house on College and Broadmor. And one last pause for the old adobe barrios in the suburbs....High Town is one of the last, southeast of Chandler Boulevard and McClintock. Most of Gilbert's have been entirely leveled for the suburbs. At least we have the treasures in Guadalupe, with, what, 86% of the building stock that needs to be substantially renovated or razed. At least they're not likely to go anywhere for a while.

Apache Blvd doesn't look the same anymore--a massive stretch around McAllister, south of Adelphi Commons, was cleared for that American Campus Communities project under construction now. Maybe all the vacant lots weren't quite as nasty back then but after the hard construction its well due for a makeover.

South Scottsdale is the mecca for midcentury apartment sprawl--block after block of one story ranch style apartments, relatively well kept up but absolutely choking on cars and the local retail fare decidedly budget Mexican. From one of my friends who's an apartment manager in one of these places, they talk about developers buying all of say, Cheery Lynn St west of 68th for a few blocks. Sooner or later this stuff will evaporate but a blanket case for saving all of them is silly. If 50 years is the new threshold for preservation, I almost wonder why demolition permits aren't coming in sooner.

But if they can do this in Scottsdale, what kind of future does Phoenix's warehouse district and Grant Park/south of the tracks area have? A bleak one, no doubt. That's why I'm a bit irked that the MCM preservationist movement is getting the attention it is when a square mile or so of the last stuff we have dating back to World War 1 will probably be gone in 5 - 10 years if downtown pans out to how we all want it.

I like the MCM thing, but only for its own quirkiness and the sad admittance that the wacky 60's resort-era stuff that killed the city is really the one last unique thing we can grasp on to. With these circumstances, maybe you do have to shift the preservation ring back till after WW2, but I don't think most of old Phoenix is safe with the patchwork of owners and regulations we have today. Jackson St, Disneylandish as it might look, is our saving grace. The alternative is too depressing to watch; ironically, an endless supply of last chances to snap that building is hardly rewarding as a photographer here.

[soleri]

^context is as important as individual buildings. For example, if Jackson St was largely intact with its old warehouses and Chinatown artifacts, I think a much better case could be made for the Sun Merc building's pristine preservation. An even stronger case could have been made for west Jackson St before the County plundered it for their new jail complex. What we see now are bits and pieces of history washed over and strewn about.

Even with historic registers, tax credits, zoning overlays and whatnot, preservation is never a slam dunk. Sometimes it's just fortuitous. Benign neglect is sometimes the agent of deliverance. Downtown LA is an example here. Much of it was simply abandoned as business moved west to Wilshire, Figueroa and Grand. Now old treasures are being renovated and retrofitted.

Phoenix doesn't have much but that doesn't mean we shouldn't care. We have to advocate for this city's small treasures and architectural legacy because it will have a definite impact on future development. Midcentury modern reveals the autocentric city in its robust youth and optimism. There's an analog in Googie-style architecture, and futuristic kitsch. We can laugh, but these eras and tastes do appear to be unique. That they stake their own claim to our collective interest is a testament to their solid design and construction. Not everything is equally worthy, but even ordinary buildings were often very well done.

Town & Country has been bowdlerized over the years but even with its mazes and warrens, the charm is still there. I won't lose sleep over its demise but I will remember when it functioned better than almost any other public space in Phoenix. It probably hit its peak 10 to 15 years ago. At one point, there was a blend of retail that even made Mill Avenue seem staid: Everything Earthly, The Hemp Store, Pizzeria Bianco, Unicef, Jutenhoops, AMC theaters (a real shame those theaters didn't become independent venues), Trilogy New Age, Dos Baristas. There was simply nothing else like it.

[nbrindley]

The Chase bank at 44th and Camelback is a fantastic building, it's like something out of an old sci-fi movie. I used to bank there regularly when I worked at 40th and Camelback, and I would always just stare around the building while waiting in line. Ten years ago or so I would have dismissed it as old and kitschy and ugly. But since then, I have really gained a sense of appreciation for midcentury modern architecture. Yes, it may be tied to post-war suburban sprawl, but there are so many cheap plywood and plaster muffler shops and whatnot (that look like they were built with a 1000 bucks and 2 days of labor) that it would be a real shame to lose these gems that represent a significant era of architecture. It's not like the city is paved in these buildings, it would be great to see the refurbished and cleaned up to their former glory. I think the biggest reason people don't appreciate these buildings is that they've seen 40 years of use and grime. If we saw them as they were when they were first built, I think people would be much less likely to tear them down.

As for Town & Country, I used to go to movies there occasionally when I was in high school about 10 years ago. I do remember there always being a decent crowd there at the various shops and restaurants, but even then it seemed kind of dark and in it's twilight years. Architectually speaking, I don't really see any reason to keep it, there isn't anything particularly striking about it if my memory serves me.

[combusean]

^ Did you work at Wild Oats by chance? I used to live at that corner ... Stephanie is probably one of the coolest cats I've met at a grocery store.

[nbrindley]

Nope. Worked at Cookies In Bloom directly next door.

[combusean]

I'm copying this article from PDN as it relates to the Palmcroft Apartments on 15th Avenue and McDowell ... a really sketchy complex built as wartime housing and I'm guessing has been decaying ever since.

This complex is amongst many other properties in a multiblock zone that has been on the National Historic Register for years. It is by far the worst of the bunch, and is probably one of the last properties to be built in the Encanto Palmcroft Historic district which basically runs from the 20's to WW2.

The article touches on it, but at the request of GG George--she's really nice but probably one of the most ardent historic preservationists I've ever met--the Phoenix City Council started to add commercial properties fronting McDowell Road to the historic district to the north--too bad you can't just do that and adding properties to a historic district requires a majority vote of the properties affected. None added in, the developer sued, GG George is probably really pissed off over this, but what Phoenix doesn't get through the process is what's missing after it.

The last few historic buildings that have been torn down have actually positive repercussions. Since the demolition of MSG, Phoenix initiated adding a series of historically black and latino properties to a historic register, and after Sun Merc Phoenix is doing the same for the Asian community.

Unfortunately, no such action is pending for a survey of the remaining WW2-era housing complexes built in the Phoenix area. I know that the Palmcroft complex under demolition is not unique--a property I looked at around 16th St and Camelback was built under similar circumstances.

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/05/14/story5.html?page=1&b=1179115200^1460384

The Business Journal of Phoenix - May 11, 2007 by Jan Buchholz The Business Journal

Residential and commercial developers have plans to invest big bucks in the urban neighborhood near Seventh Avenue and McDowell Road.

For many years, the area south of Encanto Park and north of Interstate 10 has been a hodgepodge of dilapidated housing and run-down retail alongside finely maintained historic homes and a handful of loyal, well-kept businesses.

Now, a California real estate investor and developer plans to build an 87-unit Santa Barbara-style condominium complex on the site of former wartime housing, between 13th and 15th avenues north of McDowell. The four-story Encanto Parkside project, adjacent to both the Encanto and F.Q. Story historic districts, will consist primarily of luxury high-density residences priced between $400,000 and $900,000, with some commercial space, underground parking and an athletic facility.

"I've been investing in Phoenix since 2001, but until now I've only done single-family homes," said developer Scott Haskins. "This is the largest project I've ever done."

The 2.2-acre site has been an eyesore and high crime area for some time. But ironically, Haskins had to fight city hall to get his upscale project off the ground.

After he purchased the property in April 2006 for $5.4 million, the Phoenix City Council overlaid a historic designation on the site. This would have protected the decaying Palmcroft Apartments, built in 1943. Haskins protested the council's actions by filing a lawsuit. Last month, the City Council backed off and Haskins quickly emerged with his redevelopment plans.

"I think this is an A-1 site in the most beautiful and best historic neighborhood in Phoenix," he said. "I think I hit the sweet spot."

Asbestos removal has started on Palmcroft's 33 units in preparation for demolition, which is scheduled to begin next month. Construction will start in early 2008.

When buyers move in around mid-2009, emerging and established retailers will be ready to serve them.

A Starbucks recently opened there, and in June a Pei Wei Asian Diner will open next door in a restored building on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and McDowell.

Logan Van Sittert, a Phoenix architect and developer, has owned that property (circa 1930s) for years, but it wasn't until recently that the pieces fell into place for a viable redevelopment plan.

"It was a project whose time had come," Van Sittert said. "People are really happy with it. All we get are nice compliments."

Phoenix-based Indianola Partners is co-developer with Van Sittert Associates.

Besides owning and developing the Starbucks and Pei Wei, Van Sittert owns property to the west, including his architecture offices.

Next door, marketing and public relations company E.B. Lane has been a mainstay in the area since 1971. The company started with one Spanish-style stucco home and kept remodeling adjacent residential properties. Now it occupies 22,000 square feet of rehabbed space.

"We've had the same address for over 35 years. We're very committed to real estate in the area," said E.B. Lane President and Chief Executive Beau Lane.

Although Lane is credited with keeping faith in the neighborhood through tough times, Van Sittert said David Lacy, owner of My Florist Café and Willo Bakery on the northeast corner of Seventh Avenue and McDowell, really has driven the neighborhood's most recent resurgence.

When Lacy purchased the aging retail site in 1993 to start a wholesale bakery, the former anchor tenant, My Florist, had been closed for several years and the building was vacant. The busy corner attracted attention, if only for its tattered facade.

Lacy conceded it was a risky investment.

"I had friends questioning my sanity," he said. "It was pretty forlorn looking." It was, however, "perfect for a wholesale bakery."
The bakery was a success and started attracting retail customers. Lacy then opened My Florist Café, "and little by little others joined in," he said.

More redevelopment is on tap now that Lacy has sold his properties to Tempe-based Lawrence & Geyser Development Corp. He's leasing back the space he uses.

"We actually own now everything from Seventh Avenue to Fifth Avenue on the north side (of McDowell)," co-founder Jeff Geyser said. "Our goal is to create a nice retail center."

The company will preserve many of the structures, including Lacy's businesses.

"Those are wonderful buildings. We're meeting with several (potential) tenants," Geyser said. "There's definitely more excitement to come. We see that intersection as a gateway to the historic neighborhoods."

Don Keuth, president of the Phoenix Community Alliance, believes this is just the beginning of more positive activity in the area.

"That whole area down to the fairgrounds is ripe for development," Keuth said.

He noted that the $900 million city of Phoenix bond program passed last year included more than $2 million for studying what kind of redevelopment would best suit the fairgrounds, Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the adjacent neighborhoods.

"The buzz is occurring all around there. You'll see a lot more of that going on," Keuth said.

[soleri]

I know GG George from my days as a Willo neighborhood activist. She's got that indomitable spirit which is great when you agree with her and irritating when you don't. Encanto-Palmcroft is her passion but the days have long passed when it was under any real danger. The danger now is that it will simply use blind NIMBYism to fight some appropriate development along its borders.

The apartment complex being demolished was "renovated" in the 1980s to look like a slum. Before that, it was modest but attractive. Why anyone would want to preserve it is beyond me although some preservationists will ride any old hobby horse as long as they think they look good in a saddle. The real issue is probably the height of the proposed project. At four stories, it will permit some viewlines into Palmcroft backyards, a trauma for those who thought city living included nude sunbathing.

There was one rezoning case in Encanto Palmcroft that was particularly nasty. A physician had bought a house for her office on 7th Avenue. She was the type who respected the neighborhood and adjoining houses. Her only sin was that she would be caring for a limited clientele. GG George fought her tooth and nail, calling in all her chits in city government and the Council. She prevailed. But the physician was not a substantial corporation and could only afford modest legal representation. This time, it's different and I find myself actually sympathizing with greedy developers. What the inner city needs, even this neighborhood, are more affluent residents. Yes, protect those gorgeous houses. But don't make a principle out of passion. That simply leads to pointless battles instead of strategic accommodation.

[combusean]

I just put the earnest deposit down in a unit at 636 Studios, a very quaint 10 unit complex of studio condos on 4th avenue and McKinley. Built 1930, renovated 2006. There are a few even smaller units left at $110k, but not as good value..either way you have all the luxury appointments, just not the size. :D If you are a first-time homebuyer like myself (or otherwise), they've got a relatively cheap way to get in with no closing costs or down payment, just the earnest deposit. Just get loftlovr as your realtor first as my guy was rather vacant. ;)

Realtor photos:

http://emvis.net/~sean/ssp/newpad1.jpg

http://emvis.net/~sean/ssp/newpad2.jpg

Phoenix is going to be stuck with me for a while. :D

[jvbahn]

Congrats Sean! We need interior pics when you move in. I saw those about a year ago, when the prices were a tad higher. Thought it was a good investment, like a mini-PHX-Melrose Place, and that neighborhood will be supercool when all is built in the long-run. Cibo will probably see you a lot.

[combusean]

Yeah, I vaguely recall seeing these on the MLS when they were something like twice the price. I took enough time off from looking so I could actually buy and found these quite randomly.

[Don B.]

^ I forgot - where are you living now? Regardless - congrats. Party at Sean's!? :D

You should let me photograph your unit with my wide-angle lens. I can make a small place look positively enormous with it. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Misc%20Items/IMG_9898regularadcopy.jpg

--don

[sundevilgrad]

Shameless plug... I like it.

[Don B.]

^ Well, not really. More like laziness - it's the only image I have where I have the contrast side by side without having to host up each individual image with an explanation. That and I'm in the middle of my last final - a bitch of a Contracts II exam - and time is limited today.

If someone has a problem with this (most of you aren't my target audience anyways), then I'll be happy to fix it tomorrow. Recrop and rehost.

--don

[sundevilgrad]

I actually like it, and might be contacting you when (if) we put our house on the market...

[combusean]

The old buildings in way of the ASU Downtown Student Housing tower will be cleared Monday morning at around 6 or 7, according to the construction superintendent. They include the Phoenix Forge, probably the downtown dry cleaners, that auto shop on the corner, and that nifty 1 story brick white building built up to the street. As was posted in PDN, the lot is fenced, but I'll see about getting some decent pics anyways. Anyone have an old rug? ;) j/k

[jvbahn]

Thanks for getting some pics of those buildings, Combusean, shame that they couldn't have been integrated somehow into the design, but oh well, VIVE LE ASU Residence Towers!.

[combusean]

[edit] Save for later. There's a lot of stuff in the old assessor map's that I'll do something cool with soon.

[combusean]

Thought this was a good article. It's odd living in a metro that's growing so much the little villages and intersections along the way get swallowed up as well. Sunnyslopes, Cashion, probably Wittman and Circle City all have similar fates.


Higley residents hang on to identity (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0606gr-higleyID0606-ON.html)

Cary Aspinwall
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 6, 2007 02:30 PM
Note to readers: This story first ran in the Gilbert Republic on April 14, 2006.


Drive a few blocks south on Higley Road after exiting the Superstition Freeway and you're there.

Mail a letter at the Higley Post Office, take a tour of Higley High School, stop off for a chili dog at the Higley Hot Dog Hut. Just don't go looking for Higley's town hall.

Because while Higley is a road, a school district and a postal district, it isn't a town.

While people living in those areas may call Higley home, most live in the newer part of fast-growing Gilbert.

Some are in unincorporated areas of Maricopa County, but no one really lives in Higley.

Try telling that to residents like Wayne Johnson. He was at the Higley Post Office this week, packing a present for his grandmother's 80th birthday. He says he lives in Higley.

"That's what my address is," he explains.

Most residents here get water bills from Gilbert and have Steve Berman for a mayor. But their mail and school buses say Higley; so many assume that's where they live.

How did this identity crisis come about?

Blame the United States Post Office. Back before Gilbert was a land-swallowing sea of houses, the area people refer to as Higley was mostly farms. The farms were not part of Gilbert or Queen Creek, but farmers needed somewhere to pick up their mail.

Hence the Higley Post Office and its corresponding ZIP code, 85236.

It was built in 1910 inside a general store on the strip of businesses at Higley and Williams Field roads that make up the heart of Higley, where a convenience store now stands.

But the newer Higley Post Office on the northeast corner of Higley and Ray roads still looks like it belongs in a small town. There are historic photos on the walls, the lines are short and there's a drop slot just for local mail -- anything going to ZIP code 85236.

Gilbert native Cheryl Harper works at the Higley Post Office.

"Sometimes, people are confused," Harper said. "I try to explain to them it's a postal district."

It doesn't help that people who live in the area send their children to schools in the Higley Unified School District, either. In 2004, the Gilbert and Higley districts attempted to consolidate so that children living in most of Gilbert could go to Gilbert Public Schools. It was voted down; Higley wanted to stay Higley, apparently.

After all, there's been a Higley school district almost as long as there's been the "town" of Higley, more than 90 years.

Lynn Croom and Terri Enzmann lunch occasionally at the Higley Hot Dog Hut. Both women know they live in Gilbert, but they have no idea what Higley really is.

"If that sign didn't say Higley Hot Dogs, we wouldn't even know we were in Higley," Enzmann said.

A clue to Higley's bizarre history sits framed on the wall inside the hot dog hut, right next to the counter where customers pick up their Chicago-style hot dogs and chili-cheese fries. It's a news article from 1977 about the "town" of Higley being for sale, again. Population then? 17. Asking price for the chunk of land that included a gas station, grocery store, post office and laundry? $650,000.

Just think, Scottsdale residents: For less than the median price of your homes, you once could have had a whole town.

Jeri Kryza's Hot Dog Hut is on that plot of land, still an unincorporated Maricopa County island. For her and other merchants, Higley is their community, even if it's not really a town.

The businesses there are part of a cluster of county islands slated for annexation soon so they can get Gilbert fire protection and services.

But even if Gilbert does annex the land where the Hot Dog Hut stands, she said, the defiant mustard-yellow building and sign will still say Higley.

Higley: A brief history

The name Higley comes from the community's original owner, S.W. Higley, a railroad impresario who came to Arizona in 1900 and bought more than 8,000 acres. The general store and post office at Higley and Williams Field roads were sold in 1922 to homesteaders Mary and Homer Owens. Although it never officially became a town, Higley became a community through residents banding to build roads and schools and to establish electrical and irrigation districts.

In 1982, some residents living in the area made an attempt to incorporate. They were about 200 residents short of the 1,500 needed. Other attempts at incorporating failed, and Gilbert began to swallow Higley for the next few decades. By 2004, 25 acres of what was originally known as Higley remained.

Sources: "Higley, Arizona: A Rural Community" by Sue Sossaman, and the San Tan Historical Society

[loftlovr]

Sean-
Congrats on the reservation-
For the location, the price cannot be beat and it sure seems like a great long term investment....

As for MCM architecture- It will be a bit more mainstream popular I imagine in the next decade or so-
Like any era, there are fine pieces and there are the less exciting examples.
Every now and then, you get a great example with a Frank Lloyd Wright or an Al Beadle home, or a googie cinema or bowling alley....

Sometimes you wouldn't see the beauty until rennovated.
(As with Red Modern furniture building)
http://www.phxloftnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1597

Whether or not I agree with some of the buildings being saved- I try to understand that what are beautiful landmarks to some are junky old eye-sores to others.

I didn't like the Washburn piano building much- but it could have made a killer nightclub or so if rennovated. I wasn't so crazy about the dome on Apache but I did want it relocated to another portion of that lot.

I do like the 44th street mushroom bank.
There is an Al Beadle building on 3rd and Thomas area that is weak and I wouldn't care to see it go.

-Some I fight for- others I do not mind- but I want the majority to stay in tact. Otherwise we will never have any buildings of meaning since we're replacing them every 20 yrs.

[Vicelord John]

Don, when I was a real estate admin, I used to do similar shit. I'd use my 20D (still cant use it right) and tell my boss he was worthless at MLS and I'd write up the ad's and take ALL the pix.

[JimInCal]

http://phoenix.gov/NEWSREL/1206heritage.html

June 12, 2007

Phoenix Receives Two 2007 Governor’s Heritage Preservation Honor Awards

The city of Phoenix will accept two of the 10 Governor’s Heritage Preservation Honor Awards at a special ceremony 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14, at the Elks Opera House, 117 E. Gurley St., Prescott.

The two awards are for the Phoenix Union High School Exterior Rehabilitation for the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Post World War II Commercial Historic Building Photography Project.

The awards, presented by the Arizona Preservation Foundation and Arizona State Historic Preservation Office/Arizona State Parks, are to promote public awareness and recognize various groups and organizations that promote the goals of historic preservation in Arizona.

“The preservation and rebirth of the city’s first high school have given three of the city’s most important historic buildings a future, and allowed them to play an exciting new role in education for the 21st century,” said Mayor Phil Gordon.

Three vacant historic buildings on the Phoenix Union High School campus were saved from the wrecking ball by the city and are now the centerpiece of a modern medical campus for the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. The Domestic Arts and Sciences Building, Auditorium and Science Hall were transformed in 18 months with new interior state-of-the-art facilities while preserving key historic features such as wood floors, coffered ceilings, display cases and grand staircases in the auditorium.

More than 200 wood windows were replicated in the three buildings based on historic photographs and their historic exteriors were restored to original condition. The historic flagpole and World War I Memorial Sundial in front of the auditorium also were restored. The result has been to save three significant historic buildings and provide a University of Arizona medical presence on the biomedical campus in downtown Phoenix. This project was a partnership between the city of Phoenix, Arizona Board of Regents and University of Arizona College of Medicine.

“The documentation of the city’s post World War II architecture is significant since it helps raise awareness about key landmarks built during Phoenix’s phenomenal growth in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Barbara Stocklin, Phoenix Historic Preservation officer.

Phoenix photographer and artist Michael Lundgren was commissioned by the city to create a photographic portfolio of important post World War II commercial historic buildings in Phoenix.

The photos will be on display at the city’s Burton Barr Central Library for one month beginning Aug. 3 and will be exhibited in city buildings as part of the city’s permanent Municipal Art Collection.

Some of the locations include the Federal Building, 230 N. First Ave.; Courtesy Chevrolet sign, 1233 E. Camelback Road; Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, 1326 W. McDowell Road; Celebrity Theater, 440 N. 32nd St.; and Phoenix Towers, 2201 N. Central Ave. The project was a collaboration between the city’s Office of Historic Preservation and the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Public Art Program.

[andrewkfromaz]

It would be fun to go visit the old high school sometime. My friend might be going to medical school at UA Phoenix next year.

I finally ate at Pizzeria Bianco for the first time. Food was AMAZING! The ambiance of the ancient building was really memorable too, I highly recommend checking it out. It was totally worth the >2 hour wait, although if we'd have arrived before 4, we could've halved that. Heritage Square needs more shade.

[DowntownDweller]

You should let me photograph your unit with my wide-angle lens. I can make a small place look positively enormous with it. :)


Now, if only you were shooting Nikon ;):cheers:

[combusean]

Calder Tower that we discussed in Phoenix Development News is slated in place of a one-of-a-kind warehouse in Phoenix on the southeast corner of 4th avenue and van buren. Stock MLS photo shown:

http://emvis.net/~sean/ssp/warehouse_sec_4th_ave_van_buren.jpg

The detailing in this is exquisite, and yet it's going away: From Barbara Stocklin, Phoenix Historic Preservation director after an email this morning:

It is an eligible historic property, but is not designated. The developers filed for demolition on the property a few weeks ago, and received a demolition permit. There was really nothing we could do to stop them. As I understand it their project requires a rezoning for the height waiver (probably on file now with planning department), and we were requesting at the preapplication meeting that the building either be preserved or at least the property be properly documented as a stipulation of the rezoning case. Prior to the rezoning case being formally processed, the developer filed the demolition request on the building and basically preempted any discussion on the preservation or documentation of the historic building as part of the rezoning from our office's end of things. You could contact the planning department to find out the status of the rezoning.

I've lost a lot of respect for Senior and Kristoff.

[sundevilgrad]

It is kind of a shame with the abundance of vacant lots in the immediate vicinity, but at the same time I would much prefer the Calder Tower to that warehouse. However, it sound like we're going down a familiar path:

Demolish nice older building for prospective highrise

Empty dirt lot takes place of older building, zoning variances are granted

Prospective highrise doesn't get built

Owner of property turns it into a land bank and leaves it empty until the end of time hoping to line their greedy pockets with a few more million

[HX_Guy]

I've got a feeling it will turn out the same way, and we'll end up with another dusty lot. The planned ground breaking for Calder tower is 2008, why do they need to demolish the building already? Why not wait and see if in 2008 they are still ready to move forward?
According to MLS, the building/lot sold for $2.6 Million. Like you said, they will probably raze the land, sit on it for a while, and try and get $3.6 Million for it.

There is an surface parking lot right next to this building on the same block, about the same size...I wish they would use that, but I'm guessing who ever owns that is also sitting on it to sell it later. That's the problem it seems with all these empty lots, they are sitting empty but not for sale.

[HooverDam]

^Yah I have the same concern, if I had to choose between the tower and had an assurance it would be built or the current structure, I'd take the tower. Can't they make some sort of law like "if you knock down a historic structure and don't build the tower you promised we'll let Vandercook beat you up"?

[loftlovr]

:haha: :haha: :haha:

[combusean]

After speaking with Mercury yesterday, I will take back what I said about losing respect for them as it appears there's more than one side to this story. We had a productive discussion and it was very kind of Kim Kristoff to take the time out to address my concerns after a simple phone call.

Evidently, the cataloguing of the building that's there now is already a given and they are already amicable to preserving parts of the building that give it its significance, eg, its ornamentation and its ceramic tiling. While they do have a total demolition permit on it, it seems that they're going to go with the preservation (reassemblage) on their own terms rather than wanting to tie it in with the rezoning but still entertaining comments and suggestions from the community regarding the overall project. I think at this point a "facadomy" seems a long shot but I don't rule out anything, especially if I can help get DDO in on the deal. Mercury still needs zoning variances and they still need allies so it seems logical, albeit I dislike pulling out the big guns so early in the process and I wasn't too keen when I heard a "perfect compromise" couldn't likely be found. I don't operate under that framework--it's not naivety, it's always pushing for superior outcomes no matter what.

Looks better than it did a little while ago. They're gonna do what they're gonna do, and given that it's on private property and not HP zoned, I am loathe to make a big thing of it--hopefully it doesnt get anywhere near that.

[vertex]

Downtown vintage buildings dodge the wrecking ball (http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0724historic0721.html)


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/pics/breaking/0724historic.jpg


Jahna Berry
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 24, 2007 12:00 AM

These days, it's either move it or lose it, downtown Phoenix preservationists say.

It's becoming more common for residents, with the city's help, to pluck vintage buildings out of the path of development and put them in new neighborhoods.

Moving an entire building used to be rare in Phoenix. The process was so complex and expensive that usually only one building moved each year.

That's changing. Downtown Phoenix land values have skyrocketed, and many old buildings sit on prime real estate. Arizona State University's new downtown campus, a $600 million Phoenix Convention Center expansion, light-rail construction and condo high-rises have ignited a building boom.

Some high-profile demolitions - including Madison Square Garden, a 1929 former boxing arena in downtown Phoenix that was razed in 2005 - also have increased public pressure to save rare buildings.

Plus, more city leaders want to see new uses for vintage spaces in the downtown development mix.

"We have moved more homes in the past five years than we have in the past 45," said John McCollough of McCollough Move-A-Home, a firm that has been moving buildings for more than four decades.

McCollough estimates that his company has moved 100 houses in the Phoenix area in the past five years.

Saving a piece of history
Traditionally, preservation is a harder sell in the West because of the "new is good and old is bad" mentality, said Jim McPherson,one of two Phoenix advisers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Now, "there is this sense that maybe we need to slow down and not be so proactive with demolition and look at the alternatives," he said. "What we are trying to do is play catch-up."

A Phoenix historic preservation hearing officer Wednesday helped clear the way for a resident to move a rare, 98-year-old two-story brick house in late August.

Earlier this year, preservationists moved six tiny buildings - 260 square feet each - used during World War II. The structures now stand behind the Paisley Violin restaurant on Grand Avenue, which plans to use them for artists' studios.

Last year, developers moved five homes that stood on city land planned for the downtown biomedical campus and another owner moved a 1910 home.

Even if a building is rare or has a tie to Phoenix history, the property owner ultimately can always tear it down. Buildings on the National Registerof Historic Places aren't protected from demolition. If a building is on Phoenix's historic register, the city can delay the wrecking ball for one year, which gives officials time to negotiate with the owner.

Plus, there are more than 40 historic buildings in and around downtown that are eligible be on Phoenix's register but are not on the list, said Barbara Stocklin, Phoenix's historic preservation officer. That's what happened with the 1909 brick home built by M. Edward Morin that will move in August.

Heart and wallet
The owners, who could not be reached for comment, opposed the city's 2004 effort to put the property on the city's historic register. Later, they wished to put the house up for sale and asked the city for a demolition permit.

Dan Klocke, a Phoenix resident whose family lives in another vintage home downtown, stepped forward and asked to move the house.

"I never imagined myself doing this," said Klocke, who plans to move the house to a vacant lot on Fifth Avenue in the Roosevelt neighborhood. "It's definitely a decision of the heart rather than the wallet."

The house originally belonged to M. Edward Morin, owner of the Phoenix Bottling Works, a major employer in Phoenix at the time. The home sits at 1115 N. Second Street, just north of Roosevelt. Once a block with swank homes, it now bustles with condo-construction crews.

It's blocks away from Arizona State University's growing downtown campus, the emerging biomedical campus, Roosevelt Street art galleries and future light rail.

Last resort
Putting an antique house on the back of a truck is a last resort, preservationists say. Ideally, the building should stay where it is because its location and setting also are historically significant.

And the costs can be staggering.

To move Morin's 1,850-square-foot house, workers will use equipment that will gradually lift the home off its foundation. The porch must be removed and rebuilt. Utility lines must be disconnected and re-established at the new property. Traffic signals in the path of the move must come down.

Klocke said the move itself may cost more that $150,000. He may spend up to $500,000 more after adding in the land, costs to rehab the house after the move, landscaping, parking spaces and other improvements, according to a city report. Klocke plans to rent the house to a business. The city will give Klocke $250,000 in historic preservation funds to offset some of his costs.

After the move, there can be other headaches, an architect says. When buildings move from one location to another, they are considered new buildings under the building code, said Steven Helffrich, a Phoenix architect who is helping to renovate the six World War II buildings. That can mean expensive plumbing upgrades and other improvements, he said.

Still, to those supporting preservation, the costs and potential headaches are well worth the effort. After the war, the small buildings near 17th Avenue and McDowell Road sat vacant for two decades. Now they will have new life as the artist studios behind the restaurant.

"We want to bring them back to life," said Derrick Suarez, the restaurant's co-owner.


Do you hear that Robert Sarver? They can move buildings now. Wow...

[vertex]

Sidebar to the above article:

The setup

Crews remove asbestos and other hazardous materials from the house. Utilities are unhooked. Workers dismantle staircases and other fragile fixtures. The owner must get proper permits.

The lifting

Crews cut holes in the house and insert steel beams, which form a grid that is used to help lift the house. During the course of several days, a hydraulic jacking system lifts the building about 6 feet in the air.

The move

A specially designed truck is hooked to steal beams attached to the house. The truck slowly pulls the house to the new neighborhood. Weeks before the move, the owners ask utilities and city agencies to move traffic signals, utility lines, etc., that are in the truck's path.

The foundation

The house is put on pre-made foundation, or the house is put on cribbing and a foundation is built underneath.

Some 2006 building moves in Phoenix


• 11 E. Ashland Ave.
New address: 531 E. Lynwood St.
Move date: April 2006.
Reason: Old site now commercial site.


• 817/819 N. Fourth St.
New address: 615 N. Sixth Ave.
Move date: April 2006.
Reason: On biomedical campus site.

• 414/416 E. Pierce St.
New address: 615 N. Sixth Ave.
Move date: April 2006.
Reason: On biomedical campus site.

• 616 N. Fifth St.
New address: 615 N. Sixth Ave.
Move date: April 2006.
Reason: On biomedical campus site.

• 814 N. Sixth St.
New address: 615 N. Sixth Ave.
Move date: April 2006.
Reason: On biomedical campus site.

• 715 N. Fourth St.
New address: 804 S. Fourth Ave.
Move date: April 2006.
Reason: On biomedical campus site.



Source: City of Phoenix

[PHX31]

You know what house would be prime for a relocation and restoration... that 1896 house directly next to O'Neill printing on 2nd Ave behind the YMCA. That is such a shame 1.) everything around it was torn down (if that gem was once part of a neighborhood, I wonder what was lost) and 2.) that god awful shite of a building that is O'Neill printing was built directly next to it.

That house would look good somewhere else in Roosevelt.

[DowntownDweller]

You know what house would be prime for a relocation and restoration... that 1896 house directly next to O'Neill printing on 2nd Ave behind the YMCA. That is such a shame 1.) everything around it was torn down (if that gem was once part of a neighborhood, I wonder what was lost) and 2.) that god awful shite of a building that is O'Neill printing was built directly next to it.

That house would look good somewhere else in Roosevelt.

That 1896 house already has plans attached to it. I read something about it a while back, but cannot find it right now.

[HooverDam]

That 1896 house already has plans attached to it. I read something about it a while back, but cannot find it right now.

I haven't heard anything about this, if you refind it, be sure to post it. I've always thought that would be a great place for a restaurant, especially once Jet is complete.

[Kroney]

I e-mailed Dan Klocke inquiring about the move date of the Morin House. His response is below. I've never witnessed the move of an entire house so I plan to be out there that night. I'll take pictures for the benefit of the forum. Who knows... maybe I can help out in some way.

Mark
Thanks for the e-mail. It is an exciting project and I am happy to be in the Roosevelt neighborhood. We just set a date of August 24th/25th-the Friday night/Sat morning. There will be activity in the evening but the house will likely not move until 2 am Sat morning. If there is bad weather it will be Sept 8/9. It should provide for some interesting photos to say the least. Thanks for your interest
Dan

[andrewkfromaz]

Sweet! Make sure you post pics!

[JimInCal]

Here is an exerpt from the article about the archives facility being build near the capitol. The full story is at the link below. Also, they include a nice animation with explanation of the approach to the building design and its purpose. I included a link to that as well. It's not building preservation but preservation of Arizona's history...I thought it fit in this thread.

http://southwest.construction.com/features/archive/0707_feature4.asp


http://southwest.construction.com/images/archivebldgb.wmv

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/a43d207b49.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

History Lesson
Arizona Archive Preserves the Past to Protect the Future

By Scott Blair

The $32.3 million Polly Rosenbaum Archives in Phoenix will preserve Arizona's important documents. The 125,000-sq-ft space will also treat and restore these materials through a variety of unique rooms, including a document blast-freezer and a fumigation room.

Irreplaceable records of Arizona's history are being destroyed every day because of a lack of space to properly house them.

That's the alarming message state archivists delivered to the Arizona State Legislature more than 10 years ago. After years of false starts, state lawmakers finally approved $32.5 million for the construction of the Polly Rosenbaum Archives and History Building, and construction began in January.

"It's important for people to understand this building is not great-great-aunt Sally's diary of crossing the plains," says GladysAnn Wells, director of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. "As much as I might be interested in reading that, these records are what protect personal entitlements, property and water rights."

The building is located on a vacant lot near the State Capitol on 19th Avenue and Madison Street, and is named for Arizona's longest serving state representative and a long-time advocate for historic preservation.

[Vicelord John]

^Yah I have the same concern, if I had to choose between the tower and had an assurance it would be built or the current structure, I'd take the tower. Can't they make some sort of law like "if you knock down a historic structure and don't build the tower you promised we'll let Vandercook beat you up"?

I like! how many signatures do we need to place this on the ballot?:yes:

[combusean]

^ 1,500 for Phoenix.

[NIXPHX77]

CITY OF PHOENIX HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLANNER

Salary Range: $52,603 – $74,755 annualized

Recruitment Dates: August 13 to September 10, 2007 (first review of applications)

Requires two years of experience performing public or private planning, preservation or architectural work plus a bachelor's degree in architecture, history, planning, historic preservation, archeology, or a closely related field. Knowledge of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, historic architectural styles and building construction techniques is essential. Strong writing and communication skills and experience in working with government, non-profit boards and commissions is desirable. Experience managing historic rehabilitation projects, performing federal compliance work, and overseeing grant programs are preferred. Other combinations of experience and education that meet the minimum qualifications may be substituted.

Coordinates and assists in the implementation of the City's Historic Preservation Program. Prepares and processes historic preservation zoning cases; performs design reviews of Certificate of Appropriateness applications; manages major rehabilitation work on city-owned historic sites; reviews city projects for compliance with city, state and federal historic preservation regulations; performs historic research and survey work; helps to manage historic preservation incentive programs; performs public outreach; prepares reports and makes public presentations; enforces the city historic preservation ordinance; and provides technical, architectural and historical design guidance to City staff, elected officials, citizens, boards and commissions.

Some positions in this classification require the use of personal or City vehicles on City business. Individuals must be physically capable of operating the vehicles safely, possess an appropriate valid Arizona driver's license, possess personal insurance coverage, and have an acceptable driving record.

Based on resume and cover letter. In your cover letter or resume, please describe your knowledge of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, historic architectural styles, building construction techniques, and all other related historic preservation experience. Only applicants who meet the experience requirements will be placed on the eligible-to-hire list. Previous score cannot be reused.

The City of Phoenix supports a drug-free workplace. After an employment offer is made, external applicants will be required to take and pass a drug test. Employment will be contingent upon successful completion of this drug test, and consideration of background, reference, and other job-related selection information. For more information go to www.phoenix.gov/jobs

[DowntownDweller]

I would so apply for that if it wasn't a pay-cut even at maximum salary.

[jvbahn]

I dunno what Combusean does, but sounds like he's the guy for the job.

[Kroney]

The Morin House did not move last night. This is not surprising given the rainy weather this morning. Looks like Sept 8/9 is the new target.

[PHX31]

Damn, I totally forgot about that. How's that, we have a couple weeks of clear weather and then Dean's moisture comes and effs it all up. Oh well, thanks for reminding me. I hope someone can get some pictures of the move (I'll be out at Lake Powell that weekend :))

[Globetrotter]

I finally ate at Pizzeria Bianco for the first time. Food was AMAZING! The ambiance of the ancient building was really memorable too, I highly recommend checking it out. It was totally worth the >2 hour wait, although if we'd have arrived before 4, we could've halved that.


I spotted this and just FYI Bianco doesn't open until 5.

If you show up at 5 there's a good chance you'll get one of the first 45 seats. If you don't you'll wait 90 minutes for the first round to start clearing out.

[HooverDam]

Here's a nice article from the Downtown Phoenix Journal to satiate us while news is slow:

http://www.downtownphoenixjournal.com/2009/09/23/adds-christoph-kaiser-garfield-neighborhood/

It All ‘Adds’ Up: Christoph Kaiser and His Garfield Neighborhood
Posted by Yuri Artibise on 9/23/09

Christoph Kaiser is helping to rebuild Garfield one house at a time. Once an epicenter of gang activity and urban blight in Downtown Phoenix, Kaiser’s houses are now at the heart of Garfield’s resurgence, and among the coolest in Downtown Phoenix.

Kaiser is part owner of the architectural firm Plus Minus Studio, founded by him and his business partner Hayes McNeil in the fall of 2005. Since its founding, they have added Anson Chen to their team as Project Manager. The studio has been responsible for some of the most striking projects in and around Phoenix, including transforming Katz’s Deli into Postino Central and the complete remodel of Kitchen Sink Studios in Downtown Phoenix. In addition, Christoph has recently joined Hayes as partner in the new Royal at the Market coffee shop at the soon-to-be-opened Phoenix Public Market Urban Grocery and Wine Bar.

While this portfolio is indeed impressive for a young architect, it is his personal projects in the Garfield neighborhood that captured the attention of DPJ. Garfield is the oldest historical district in Phoenix. First established in 1883, it became part of the city of Phoenix in 1899. Houses in the neighborhood date from the 1890s to the 1940s, with a large percentage built in the early 1900s. Unlike the grand dames of Phoenix’s historic districts, Willo and Encanto-Palmcroft, which have mostly remained intact and have dramatically appreciated in value, the historical homes in Garfield fell on hard times over the past three decades.

Kaiser purchased and remodeled his first house in Tempe while still a student at ASU. After graduating, he set his sights on Downtown Phoenix because of the dynamic changes occurring Downtown and the availability of affordable historic homes. “Historic homes put me at peace,” Kaiser says. He also notes that older homes encourage commitment, something that is lacking in many of the interchangeable stucco boxes that popped up in the suburbs during the real estate boom.


http://www.downtownphoenixjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/2041980254_42c230ccc3.jpg
Before and after: 910 E. Pierce St.

The Garfield neighborhood has changed a lot since 2005, when he first moved in — there was still gang activity on his street back then. At that time, Kaiser felt like he was the only one trying. Rather than be deterred, however, he saw this as an opportunity. Not only were the prices right for an architect with shallow pockets but deep vision, but also the dire shape of the area provided opportunities for creativity that would not have been available in other neighborhoods. He has seen a dramatic change over the past four years, brought about, in part, by a shift from renters to owners who are renovating their homes as well. In addition, the remaining landlords are paying more attention to the upkeep of their properties in hopes of attracting new tenants from ASU and the Biomedical campus.

http://www.downtownphoenixjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/2020878963_42f05a41b7.jpg
A mixture of old and new

Kaiser’s desire is to create interesting living spaces for the working class and students. They are a unique alternative to the condo towers and apartment blocks that we normally think of as “urban living.” His approach to design and architecture is akin to an unfolding progression. When you first approach his homes, they look largely like they did when there were first built, as he has done his best to respect the exterior’s authenticity. One of the only differences is the desert-friendly landscaping. Once you step inside — or around back — however, you enter a realm of the unexpected.

Kaiser takes the concept of place-making to a micro level. While the term traditionally refers to creating neighborhoods, he creates places as small as a garden patio. To create such a place, Kaiser pays particular attention to creating a sense of arrival, where it feels like you are entering your own world, despite being just steps away from the bustle of Downtown. As a result, he is as interested in the outside of his houses as he is with the interiors. He has spent a lot of time researching indigenous desert plants and has planted many varieties of mesquite. He is now experimenting with interspersing fruit trees between the desert trees, because, he states with a wink, “After all the work I put into planting, watering and otherwise maintaining my yard, it would be nice to get something back.”

http://www.downtownphoenixjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/3352367565_0efe5b5126.jpg
Kaiser's attic retreat

On the inside, Kaiser tries to fit as many unique living spaces as possible. He has created units in once-empty attics and created communal living spaces on the main level for people renting out bedrooms. Christoph fills each place with whimsical touches, including an intriguing mix of vintage finds and high-tech conveniences. While there are plenty of IKEA products throughout his unit, due to their affordable-yet-stylish forms, he also has several higher-end pieces that were custom made to maximize the use of space. In addition, he is in the process of building unique living spaces in his back yards, including a renovated 1967 Airstream trailer and a corrugated metal silo that he is constructing as a self-contained living space. He notes that the four to five people living in each of his houses, while dense by today’s standards, was the norm when the houses were first built. The only difference is that they were families living together back then, while there are friends living together today. This added density allows for more affordable rents, attracting a mix of students, artists and creative young professionals.

A good way to describe this combination that Kaiser has developed is to use a phrase coined by Alison King of Modern Phoenix: “Mullet Modern — conservative in the front, party in the back.” According to Kaiser, “Neighborhoods need some interest, with some more aggressive or edgy touches to attract diverse types of people, yet still being respectful of the neighborhood’s authenticity.” He admits that many of his ideas wouldn’t fly in a more established historic neighborhood, but in a recovering neighborhood like Garfield, they are a perfect fit.

Im glad someones doing something in Garfield. Downtown will never be the success we all want it to be until Garfield and the Captiol Mall neighborhoods are healthy, safe, vibrant places and at least at the level that Coranado is today. We need them to feed into downtown.

[combusean]

bump

[PHX31]

Anyone here frequent modernphoenix.net? Does anyone know who Walt Lockley is from that website? I was looking through this section of modern phoenix: http://www.modernphoenix.net/vnb/bimson.htm which is a little piece about the First Security Building and the top floor. I noticed the picture of the grass yard on the top floor was actually my picture. About 5 years ago I snuck into the penthouse of the First Security building when it was under renovation and discovered (my own discovery, not that it was a secret) that the penthouse had a roof-top yard complete with bushes and grass and everything. I even posted a picture thread here on SSP about my urban exploration exploits. It's amazing that me, of all people since I rarely post pictures, is having their picture "stolen", as the modern phoenix website says "text and pictures by Walt Lockley". Well, Walt, that one isn't your picture bud!

From modern phoenix:
http://www.modernphoenix.net/vnb/images/bimsonpenthouse.jpg

From my camera 5 years ago:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/DSC00600.jpg

[HooverDam]

PHX31, I frequent ModernPhoenix.net but I dont know Mr Lockley personally. He used to have an amazingly awesome website (waltlockley.net I think it was) that had tons of pictures of Phoenix architecture along with lots of written history. Shoot him an email on there asking for credit and Im sure it'll all work itself out.

EDIT: VV Soleri's name is Walt, but its a different guy Im pretty sure...I seem to recall asking him (soleri).

[oliveurban]

Anyone here frequent modernphoenix.net? Does anyone know who Walt Lockley is from that website? I was looking through this section of modern phoenix: http://www.modernphoenix.net/vnb/bimson.htm


Could it be Soleri? If I remember correctly, his name is Walt. He's a huge MCM buff, and I know he's contributed to Modernphoenix.net in the past.

Could be incorrect, of course. That just came to mind.

[HooverDam]

So Im going to be doing a photo thread sometime in the next week hopefully showing Biltmore, Arcadia and the Papago Park Area (basically an East Phoenix catch all thread), but I thought Id share an odd house I came across:

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6015/dsc0059gd.jpg

Now it wouldn't look out of place in Central Phoenix at all but this bungalow is on the North side of Missouri just a bit west of 20th St. I was surprised to see such an old building that far East. I wonder if this house formerly sat on a ranch or citrus grove or something.

[Leo the Dog]

Looking forward to your upcoming E. Phx photos.

[PHX31]

Cool find, Hoover. I'm always surprised to find older homes far from the dowtown area. I imagine, like you are wondering, if they are remnants of long lost homesteads/farms. Looking forward to the rest of the pics.

[Leo the Dog]

It occurred to me that the house could have been moved there from Central Phx...possibly?

[Vicelord John]

that home in the picture is an old ranch home, which I don't think is out of place at all if you use your noggin to think about it being there as a farm house before anything else was there. Think of Timmy and Lassie playing on the front yard.

[HooverDam]

that home in the picture is an old ranch home, which I don't think is out of place at all if you use your noggin to think about it being there as a farm house before anything else was there. Think of Timmy and Lassie playing on the front yard.

Right I meant its out of place in todays world in that neighborhood. Its all mid century apartments and low slung ranch style homes now. Obviously that area was probably rather sparsely populated when that building was built so there were likely never many like it. Combine that with our lack for preserving buildings in this town and it stood out to me considering its neighborhood.

[HX_Guy]

Phoenix 1938 thanks to Roosevelt on City-Data.com forums...

This is a crazy crazy picture...are any of these buildings in this picture, aside from the church and the Westward Ho, even up? ANY of them?
http://www.city-data.com/forum/attachments/phoenix-area/50292d1254777823-how-do-you-remember-phoenix-stories-phx-3rd-ave-adams-1938_wm.jpg

Is the white building...a house? :D
http://www.city-data.com/forum/attachments/phoenix-area/50290d1254777801-how-do-you-remember-phoenix-stories-phx-2nd-ave-washington-1938_wm.jpg

[JKPhx]

God that is depressing...thanks for the sweet memories

[HooverDam]

Amazingly depressing. I cant believe how bad our predecessors fucked up. In that second picture there seems to be a marquee saying "Rialto", I wonder if that was a theater of some kind. I know about the old Fox Theater but havent heard of that one.

[kaneui]

Amazingly depressing. I cant believe how bad our predecessors fucked up. In that second picture there seems to be a marquee saying "Rialto", I wonder if that was a theater of some kind. I know about the old Fox Theater but havent heard of that one.


Phoenix and Tucson both had a Rialto Theater until 1955:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/3180/

[PHX31]

Thankfully the 3 tallest buildings in the 2nd picture are still around... but yeah, pictures like this make me ill. I guess I just can't fathom anyone during any time period being OK seeing beautiful strutures (and all of their ornaments, craftsmanship, etc.) being torn down for a terrible looking parking garage, or nothing. I guess cars were seen as the signs of the times... and the advent of A/C must have made the decision of demolition or retrofitting a tough one. I can see people thinking many of these old buildings sucked since they likely didn't have A/C. Installing A/C in an old home or building was likely very costly, and building anew was a pretty good option for some of the building owners.

[Vicelord John]

What i always wonder is...

If nobody ever tore down original buildings in phoenix, would we have a gaslamp like neighborhood right now?

[Leo the Dog]

Just look at how much more of a city Phoenix was back then compared to now. A lot of street activity and PEDESTRIANS!

[mgmAZCO]

Wow, those pictures make me sad beyond words. If only a few blocks from back then had been spared the wrecking ball, it would make downtown so much more interesting. I still think it would be great if a developer re-created some of the old buildings (or at least a close approximation). Wouldn't it have been nice if the Cityscape retail portion had tried to do this is some fashion? I know it's probably cost prohibitive, but that is such a visible and important block. I wish the city would have insisted on architecture that was more in line with the surrounding Luhr's buildings and the old City Hall. Oh well...it would have been nice.

[Leo the Dog]

I say bring back the grass in front of the old city hall. Just look how much more inviting it looks from the street.

[combusean]

Found a whole series of articles on the history of the east valley at

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2009/09/23/20090923cr-gnhightown0927.html

Good reads, I'm surprised I didnt even see them

[Don B.]

I wish I could travel back in time and walk those streets in the 1920s.

Oh well.

To answer John's question, yes, if Phoenix had not wiped out so much of her history, we would have more of a gaslamp district today, or at least the possibility of one.

--don

PS: My collection of historic Phoenix postcards that I digitized last year:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/IMG_4588copy.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/OldHotelAdams.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/SahuarostreetlampinPhoenixin1930s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/DowntownPhxin1920s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/CentralAvenuelookingnorthin1950s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/CentralAvenuelookingnorthin1940s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/5005HotelAdams.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/4016AerialDowntownPhoenix.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/4005Trolley1947.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/4004PhoenixTrolley1947.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/4003CentralAvePhx.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/2012HotelLuhrs.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/2002CentralAve1920s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/1950sdowntownPhoenix.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/1940sCentralAvenuelookingnorth.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/0013WashingtonSt.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/0007WashingtonSt1902.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/0003CentralJefferson1904.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/0004CentralAvePhx2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/Early1940sStreetcarsinPhoenix.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/1942PhoenixStreetcarshot.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/1942Phoenixshot.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Historical%20photos/1888MilitaryParadeinPhoenix.jpg

[Leo the Dog]

Don, great pics, thanks!

Anyone notice how all of the buildings fronting the street had shade structures?

Why doesn't the city of Phx require this? This may actually encourage more people to come DT if they can avoid the blistering heat during the summer months.

[DowntownDweller]

I'm currently preserving my second 1920s Phoenix home (still have the first one too). Damn its a lot of work, but they SURE don't build them like that anymore, and I love my neighborhood.

[PHX31]

/\ where at? pics?

[DowntownDweller]

/\ where at? pics?

4 houses down from my other place. I'll send you some pics.

BTW, I got a 7' tall by 6.5' wide builtin for $50 from one of your neighbors about 1/4 mile directly south of you to incorporate into the re-do of this place.

[PHX31]

send me a pic of that built-in.

[glynnjamin]

Thought this was worth posting

Hotel San Carlos
http://www.vimeo.com/2897234

[HX_Guy]

Cool post made by someone over at City-Data.com...

http://www.city-data.com/forum/phoenix-area/192459-how-do-you-remember-phoenix-stories-105.html

If you can imagine, when I was little, in the fifties, there was nothing North of North Mountain, now you can drive for over an hour past there before the buildings start thinning out. We were practically in the dessert, neigbors were always killing rattle snakes in their yards and scorpions in their houses. Shea Boulevard was a dirt road on the way to the Salt Rive and everything was citrus groves and vacant lots. Lots more Grapefruits than Oranges, actually. It was kind of a western town. We didn't have too many people here. The tallest building in town was the Westward Ho Hotel because of the radio tower on it. Now the highrises downtown dwarf it. There were actual cowboys and there were riding stables (dude ranches, also) South Phoenix was a nice part of town, just older. And what is considered the historical section now were just thought of as OLD. Families were lucky if they owned a TV, we had neighbors who used to come over to watch shows like Lawrence Welk and the Chevrolet Hour with Dinah Shore. Central Avenue always had the palm trees and there was actually a Palms Theater on Central. We didn't have any culture in downtown except the Art Museum but it was tiny. MacDonalds was at Central and Indian School down the street from the Carnation parking lot. My dad used to take me to MacDonalds back when the logo on the sign was still Mr. Speedy and he could buy a hamburger for 14 cents or a cheeseburger for nineteen cents. The big deal for the teenagers was to "cruise Central Avenue" and park at the Carnation parking lot. Later when they got hungry they would go to Bob's Big Boy Restaurant at Central and Thomas Road, where they actually had car hops that would serve you in the parking lot. Also right there was the J.B. Bayless store that was a replica of A.J.Bayless Markets owner's father's original store, now it is a museum type of place and his daughter is grown and several years ago ran for governor. The Phoenix Indian School was right on Central Avenue.
At seventh street and Missouri Avenue there was the Drive In Theater which that plaza is named for now, the Cinema Park Drive-in Theater is now the Cinema Park Mall. I had friends who lived on the corner of their lot in a small house but they had a speaker in their back yard and they could sit in their back yard at the picnic table and watch and listen to the movies for free. Coffee shops like Guggi's and Helsing's were popular then. There were two expensive restaurants then that were called Green Gables and Neptunes Table both of which by todays standards would be considered less fancy than Denny's. Although Green Gables had a "castle motif" and there was a knight on horseback that led people to their parking space with a big lance, wearing a suit of armor.the most radical music we hear back then was Elvis. Most of the young people listened to the radio on AM stations. Wallace and Ladmo were the local cartoon hosts on the most popular show for kids and they had celebrities on there who wanted to advertise, on the kids show in between cartoons. One of them was Waylon Jennings. Later on I found out that my mother had gone to high school with Marty Robins in Glendale. She asked me one time if I knew who Stevie Knicks was and we all started laughing at her, then she said that she went to school with her father also, Charlie Knicks. My dad worked for Salt River Project but started with them when they were the Salt River Valley Land Reclamation Unit, then The Salt River Valley Water Users' Association, then SRP. We used to go to Encanto Park and go to kiddie land on the rides and the merry go round seemed like a big ride, it has been refurbished and is still there I understand. We would sit up on the hill with a picnic basket on a blanket and listen to music played by some local band who played in the band shell. My mother would drive a whole station wagon full of kids to the Sunnyslope high school pool where we could swim for 10 cents each all day and then afterward, she would come get us an take us to Ted's Tastey Burger on Seventh Street and feed us all there where she could get ten burgers for a dollar. One of the big events in town every year was the Jaycees Rodeo of Rodeo's Parade on Central Avenue. My dad used to take us to the state fair every year.
No More My Brain Hurts,
Arizona Mildman

[PHX31]

"And what is considered the historical section now were just thought of as OLD."

Any wonder why so much of our history was lost in Central/Downtown Phoenix, probably beginning right at the time this guy is reminiscing about.

[HX_Guy]

Kind of makes sense if you think about it though. It's like us thinking of houses built in the 70s and 80s...would you really save them? They are just...old. But in 50-60 years from now, people may think what nice historic houses they are.

[PHX31]

I think the big difference, though, is that these "old" houses he was talking about were definitely pre-war, which 100% means they were lacking A/C. When A/C became more widespread and a thought of as a necessity, those beautiful houses downtown were really from another (seeminly useless) time period. Imagine the costs to renovate and install an A/C system into an "old" house.

[DowntownDweller]

Kind of makes sense if you think about it though. It's like us thinking of houses built in the 70s and 80s...would you really save them? They are just...old. But in 50-60 years from now, people may think what nice historic houses they are.

Comparing period revivals to hack and tract ranch houses is silly.

[Vicelord John]

hmmmm 2 foot thick brick and mortar wall or 2x4 and styrofoam wall? I'd have to say the houses they are building now, unless architecturarly significant or high dollar construction, will be worthless in 60 years.

[NIXPHX77]

Interesting reminisces, but 2 corrections for what they're worth:
It's Stevie Nicks (from Fleetwood Mac), and her father was Jess Nicks.
He opened/owned(?)/ran the 2 Compton Terrace amphitheatres in the Valley, named after a pioneering local radio DJ. The first one was at Legend City, by SRP. When LC closed, a new amph. opened on the Gila River Res. You can still see the stage and some Eucalyptus trees just west of I-10.
Stevie's mother also owned an antique shop in downtown Scottsdale and then later in Payson. Also, Stevie was born at Good Samaritan Hosp. on McDowell in Phx in 1948, and they lived right off 16th St N of McDowell at the time.
PS - other spelling corrections: McDonald's, and Marty Robbins.
Also, the Bayless market replica museum mentioned was one of the bldgs near the NWC of Central/Indian School recently torn down.

[NIXPHX77]

Please come join us for the monthly Phx Historic Neighborhoods Coalition meeting at 7 pm at the Phx Elem. School Dist. #1 Boardroom, which is reached via the parking lot south of Palm Lane and east of 7th street. We meet on the third Thursday of each month. Thanks.

http://phxhistoric.wordpress.com

[NIXPHX77]

Check out the Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods Coalition's 2010 list
of the most "enDangered Dozen" historic places in the city of Phx:

http://pitch.pe/66942

[NIXPHX77]

This probably should go here:

Anyone have any info on the status of the Log Cabin Motel on E VB?

i am concerned cuz it looks closed and there is a large backhoe parked on site.

i think it would be a shame to lose this classic roadside kitschy gem.

[PHX31]

/\ NIXPHX, can I get a copy of the self-guided driving tour guide that is mentioned on the Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods Coalition website? It says to ask for one.

[PHX31]

HISTORIC FACADE RENOVATION AND REHABILITATION

Tucson is doing a great thing in renovating some of their historic structures' facades. Many times older buildings were given hideous 1950s-1980s renovations. Bringing back the original facade would do wonders to the streetscape and the look and feel of downtown Phoenix and the surroundings. We bitch and complain about the lack of historic building stock in Phoenix, or the lack of nice historic buildings to look at, but there are many out there hiding behind utter garbage facades. If the city could somehow provide grants and incentives to building owners to rehabilitate their historic structures, it would benefit everyone. Check these out that I know of:

Heard Building and what is now the Quiznos at Central/Adams:
http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.org/images/full//ppl4050r.jpg
courtesy of: http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.org/controller.jsp?R=445900

What it looks like now (with Thai Elephant, Yasda Bento, Coney Island place, Quiznos, Roma Cafe):
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/quiznos.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/quiznos2.jpg
On the side of the quiznos at the top, you can still see that there is brick there (hard to tell in this pic).

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33.451491,-112.07436&spn=0,0.004699&z=18&layer=c&cbll=33.449315,-112.073805&panoid=PIf_3i20w60XdLVxiuI5Mg&cbp=13,315.92,,0,-11.28

Imagine this block of contiguous street-fronting great buildings, right on the light rail line, brought back to their original glory. Sure, the ornateness and parapets are probably gone and they'd have to be rebuilt, but it could be done, and I'm sure the original brick is underneath. It would be a point of pride, rather than an ugly afterthought. The Heard Building is OK in its altered state, but not as good as it was.


Majerle's and the couple of clubs along Washington:
http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.org/images/full//pmh92033026r.jpg
courtesy of: http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.org/controller.jsp?R=450899

What it looks like now (slightly old pic):

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/majerles.jpg
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33.448261,-112.072013&spn=0,0.00235&z=19&layer=c&cbll=33.448263,-112.071805&panoid=uphBuaVZc6d-JKgR1kuYlA&cbp=13,19.68,,0,-0.34

This one isn't too bad, however, Majerles could bring back the brick and rebuild the triangular parapet. It's the oldest remaining commercial building in Phoenix (late 1800s). Also, what was "Burn" is awful, you can kind of tell what it was at the far left of the historic picture (the Ezra W. Thayer Hardware building). The nice wooden railings for these buildings are gone forever, but the brick buildings themselves should be restored. Again, it would be a great looking street.

The Subway and Focaccia Fiorentina corner at Central/Monroe:
(look at the bottom left corner):
http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.org/images/full//pmh9708701r.jpg
Courtesy of: http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.org/controller.jsp?R=451589

What it looks like now:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/subway.jpg
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33.450271,-112.073757&spn=0,0.00235&z=19&layer=c&cbll=33.45036,-112.07382&panoid=PN7Wpp-vLhFRXvS_eA713A&cbp=13,212.14,,1,-5.02&photoid=po-2210107

I looked at the back side of this building the other day and the brick is still there. Again, the little parapets on the roof line may have been demolished, I don't know, but it would be such a better building with brick. Also, the Foccacia Fiorentina building looks like shit with its stuccoed purple arch. I'm certain whatever it was before would be awesome to bring back to life, I just can't find a good picture of it.

There are several other smaller buildings around downtown and central Phoenix that would be so much nicer if their facades could be restored. I'm thinking of the MacAlpine's building on 7th street, and that llantera/wheel store on 7th Street and Roosevelt (brick building hiding behind a wall of corrugated steel).

Somehow we need to take the cue from Tucson and bring these structures back to life!

[mgmAZCO]

Great old pictures, and great idea! I think it would be great if these buildings could be restored to what they once were. The 'renovations' done to a lot of them don't look cohesive, and this would certainly bring back some of the history and uniqueness that you should find in a major city's downtown.

[Phxguy]

Not a bad idea at all. It would be awesonme to be eating in a Subway with a 20s' era-30s' era feel to it. Also I wonder if those 1 story buildings along Central have the option to add something above it like say apartments or a small private buisness. It's nice to have a modern downtown but then again we start making our historical buildings look like they were built yesterday.

[NIXPHX77]

/\ NIXPHX, can I get a copy of the self-guided driving tour guide that is mentioned on the Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods Coalition website? It says to ask for one.
Sure thing. i can drop one off to you; i think you live in Coronado as I do.
PM me your address. Thx.
PS - I've thought the same thing about the facades for a long time. and if Tucson can do it, we should be able to. Good for Tucson for doing that. i do plan on trying to foster this along here in Phx.
Thx for the pix and putting it out there.
Also, there was a plan about 10 years ago to restore the Heard Bldg.; maybe some day. also, i like the quiznos bldg's current look as well as old look.
It's current look may in fact be historic; it looks like it was changed in the 1940s perhaps. it used to have a cool old clock right at the corner on the awning til about 4 years ago.

[NIXPHX77]

Also, the Log Cabin Motel is gone, fyi. Sucks!!

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/09/12/20100912tovrea-castle-phoenix-landmark.html

Long-shuttered Tovrea Castle undergoing renovations to finally receive visitors
by Lynh Bui - Sept. 12, 2010 09:51 PM
The Arizona Republic
With a long staff helping him up the way, John Driggs climbed the narrow wooden stairs of one of Phoenix's most famous and mysterious buildings.

Through each tier of the Tovrea Castle, Driggs excitedly pointed out historic aspects of the structure.


Carraro Cactus Garden

In the kitchen ceiling, he noted the bullet hole - shot during a robbery in the late 1960s.

Over the fireplace, he showed off the mantelpiece of a dancing ballerina - a gift from craftsmen who used the property's machine shop to create similar moldings for the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix.

And at the very top of the castle, he took in the view - surrounded by Papago Park, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Camelback Mountain and downtown Phoenix.

The former Phoenix mayor has had the privilege of strolling through the Tovrea Castle dozens of times but still marvels at the structure.

"I spent my whole early years in the car with my parents driving by," said Driggs, 83, who is helping to lead efforts to open the castle. "I had such wonderment as a little kid about this castle that no one could ever go in or know anything about."

Many Valley residents and visitors experience that same curiosity when they zoom by the castle on the hill along Loop 202. But Driggs' goal as chairman of the Arizona Capitol Centennial Committee is to get the Tovrea Castle and surrounding Carraro Cactus Garden open to the public in time for the state's 100th birthday so people can personally experience the magic.

This fall, Phoenix will start construction on the northwest corner of grounds to make way for a parking lot and bathrooms. An old, paint-chipped building that used to be a day-care center will be renovated into a visitor center. The $1.4 million project will provide more access to the property than ever before.

"With the city's tight budget, we won't be able to have staff there seven days a week, but we can do special events," Phoenix Deputy City Manager Rick Naimark said.

But the castle and garden still won't be officially open to the public, and it is still unclear whether that will happen by the state centennial Feb. 14, 2012.

The castle was built by Italian immigrant Alessio Carraro in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He envisioned turning the wedding-cake-shaped castle on the hill into the centerpiece of a resort property filled with a lush cactus garden.

Carraro abandoned his dream in 1931. That was shortly after his neighbors, the Tovrea family, constructed cattle and sheep pens nearby to supply the Tovreas' meatpacking plant. Carraro sold the property to E.A. and Della Tovrea, who turned the property into a private residence. Della died in 1969 of complications from an assault in a robbery that resulted in that bullet hole in the ceiling, and after that the property fell into disrepair. Cactuses died, and the castle started deteriorating.

In 1993, the city bought the castle and surrounding land to start preserving the area as a public park, and massive restoration efforts began. Since then, the city has purchased more than 43 acres of the property around 52nd and Van Buren streets.

More than $15 millions in grants, bonds and other money has poured into the project over nearly 20 years to buy and renovate the landmark after decades of languish.

Even though interior restoration of the castle finished last year, other buildings, fountains, gardens and other facilities need attention, said Dale Larsen, Phoenix director of parks and recreation. And although there will be bathrooms on the corner of the property, there won't be working facilities in the castle.

About $12 million more will be needed to get it fully open to the public, Larsen said.

"This has stood idle for decades now, and it's just a shame," Larsen said.

For the past few years, a group of volunteers called the Carraro Heights Society has been volunteering time to tend and restore the garden of more than 5,000 cactuses. That same group has adopted the park through the city's Adopt-a-Park program and has offered to help with tours and fundraising. The non-profit Phoenix Parks and Conservation Foundation has also designated the park as its main fundraising project and is interested in sponsoring events and tours to raise money.

Driggs said he hopes to excite other donors to fill in the rest of the gaps. "We want private money to flood in," Driggs said. "If we can get enough excitement for this, we could almost make it by the centennial."

[HooverDam]

Wanna really get depressed? Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XyZYdoc0pM&feature=player_embedded

[HooverDam]

Historical Phoenix freight depot gets new life

Once a hub of commerce, a long-empty 1929 railway building in Phoenix is switching to a new track as county offices

1 comment by Glen Creno - Nov. 27, 2010 09:00 PM
The Arizona Republic

A historical rail depot that once was a thriving hub of Phoenix commerce is getting a top-to-bottom fix-up and a second chance at life as county offices.

Maricopa County is spending nearly $4 million to restore and renovate the Santa Fe Freight Depot at Fifth Avenue and Jackson Street for use by the Assessor's Office. The county already owned the building, but it had become a dusty graveyard for broken chairs, old tables, copier parts and other county castoffs.

"That's what happens when you have an empty space in a big city," said Jim Brignall, president of Brignall Construction Co. of Phoenix, the contractor doing the renovation. "People find it and utilize it for their own uses. But it will be a nice corner. It will remind people of what it was."


The depot opened in 1929 and for years was a key shipment point for goods moving to and from Phoenix by railroad. Merchandise headed for department stores was collected there. A tunnel connected the depot to the ice-storage building nearby so the big blocks of ice that kept food fresh could be shuttled between buildings. The tunnel is still there and was used in the renovation to route a sewer line.

The assessor is closing four outlying offices around the Valley and will consolidate them in the renovated depot, scheduled to open in April. The county says it will save $700,000 to $800,000 a year in lease money it pays on the satellite offices without having to lay off the people who work in them. Sixty to 70 of the assessor's more than 320 employees will be based at the depot. One of the satellites will be converted for use by another county department.

"We need every one of those positions," Assessor Keith Russell said. "This is one-time money to fix this as opposed to annual money that gets spent every year, year in and year out, on those rents. In these tough economic times that's always a big plus, to be able to put some money towards people as opposed to buildings."

The depot has been vacant since the mid-'60s. Dick Carr, the depot project manager for the county, said the county has owned the depot for about 10 years. The 15,000-square-foot depot was scheduled for demolition in the early 2000s as part of a county construction project but was spared when preservationists objected. A parking garage sits just a few feet south of the depot.

The building is made of poured concrete reinforced with steel, making for what Carr said it is a very sturdy structure. A layer of asbestos was dug out of the floor, and lead paint and lead-encased wiring were removed.

"It was an environmental disaster zone," Carr said.

The building's exterior is on Phoenix's historical register and will be restored to its original look. Roll-up loading doors will be replaced with windows. The wood bumpers attached to the building, gouged by truck bumpers and brittle from decades of weather, will be replaced. The Santa Fe logos will remain. The renovated depot also will meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green-building standards.

The depot will house the assessor's geographic information systems, fees processing, exemptions and residential property-valuation appeals. Even though the interior will be new, the railroad theme will be echoed. The county says it will borrow railroad artifacts, such things as old maps and railway guides from the Arizona Railway Museum, duplicate them and display them inside.

Patte Thornton, the project's architect, described the depot as an industrial building with Art Deco touches. Thornton, of Arrington Watkins Architects of Phoenix, said the building's original drawings are being used to guide the work.

She said one of the biggest jobs will be restoring the concrete face of the building's east side.

"That building's been abused," she said. "Nobody ever considered re-use of it."



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/11/27/20101127phoenix-freight-depot.html#ixzz16YjYToyH

This is good news, glad to see the old building finding a use. Its too bad that hideous over sized parking garage looms over it and creates such an eyesore.

[HX_Guy]

Cool Then and Now that AZCentral.com put together...

http://www.azcentral.com/centennial/news/articles/2011/09/02/20110902centennial-then-and-now.html

[PHX31]

I have mentioned this before on this website, but I'm not sure in which thread... you know the Security Building that was being renovated that also houses the PURL? Well, long ago I made an "urban exploration" trek into the penthouse of the building and discovered (for myself) the rooftop deck/garden:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/DSC00600.jpg

Another picture I took at that time was of the crown of the building from the rooftop:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/DSC00607-1.jpg

I have also posted this before, but notice what I think is a lantern?

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/SecurityBuildingLantern2.jpg

How cool would it be for our nighttime skyline if that lantern still worked and could be turned on? Well, I figured ASU's PURL would be a perfect contact to see if we can get that lantern turned on at night... they'd be interested, right? Well, I sent a long-winded email to the PURL director, and here is her response:

Absolutely fantastic idea!

Aaron (Asst. Director of PURL and ardent historic preservationist) -- do you know anything about this?

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention!


Her email was copied to "Aaron" and here is the response from him I got:

I was very excited to received your email yesterday! I agree with you 100% that we should activate the lantern of the Security Building. I have started the conversation with a colleague from the Maricopa County offices (owner of the security building) about how we can activate the lantern at night. I will keep you posted with any news that comes about. Thank you again for your interest in PURL and the Security Building!

Who knows the condition of the lantern, who knows if the county person will drag their feet or make it a bigger deal than it needs to be (ie, they won't turn it on because it costs too much to renovate (if necessary), power costs, people will complain about a light being on at night)... but it was satisfying to bring this to their attention as well as get such a positive response.

Here's to hoping we have one more cool thing on our skyline at night!