[soleri]

Historic preservation as an urban virtue usually dates back to the 60s in NYC after Penn Station, a building of immense grandeur, was destroyed so a replacement of immense horror could replace it. In Tucson and Phoenix, the lag time is measured in decades before such insights begin to gel. During this period we've given up a ransom in architectural treasure so our local Chamber of Philistines could preen before the fun-house mirror of modernism. The old Pioneer Hotel, nearly lost in a deadly arson crime in the 70s, was reclad in hideous alumiunum and turned into an office building. What a coup if they could restore that beauty! Tucson's historic barrio was bulldozed for a creepy convention center, and the glorious Santa Rita Hotel was razed so a charmless substitute could mock the very idea of architecture.

Tucson is more fortunate than Phoenix in many respects: it's older, higher in altitude, blessed with higher mountains and more beautiful sunsets. It also has many more historic buildings. Tucson's future is its storied past, not in remaking itself into Little Phoenix. Now someone please tell Jim Click and Don Diamond.