| |
Posted Feb 1, 2012, 4:36 AM
|
|
Registered User
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: North Mesa
Posts: 1,631
|
|
|
Arizona centennial events reined in by funding woes
Quote:
Turning 100 is a big feat in anyone's book.
For the state's centennial celebration, Feb. 14 is the finish line on a long obstacle course filled with economic potholes. Early plans got watered down by the recession and difficulty raising funds.
And organizers faced other problems, from shifting priorities to a time-consuming trademark squabble, that have taken some of the shine off early aspirations for the centennial celebration.
Despite the problems, organizers say Arizona's 100th birthday will be memorable.
"It's not flashy, flamboyant, 75 minutes of fireworks," said Win Holden, publisher of Arizona Highways magazine and one of the members of the Arizona Centennial Commission.
The state will have fireworks, but Holden said the celebration's legacy will be community-generated projects, such as tree plantings and volunteers donating 100 hours of time to a worthy cause.
"That's Arizona," he said of the smaller-scale projects. "It's conservative, it's logical."
It's also low-budget.
The commission is working with a $5 million budget, compared with early estimates of $35 million.
A lot of that is being poured into the Best Fest, a two-day event at the Capitol featuring cultural performances, booths and attractions celebrating Arizona.
"We're sweating it a bit," Karen Churchard, the commission's director, said of fundraising efforts.
The event runs Feb. 11-12, the weekend before the official 100th birthday.
Money, or the lack of it, has been the biggest impediment to the centennial being as big an event as, say, Oklahoma's. In 2007, that state staged a $60 million event that included adding a dome to its Capitol.
"It just breaks my heart," Blake Wade, executive director of Oklahoma's Centennial Commission, said of Arizona's low-key affair. "We were at a time when the oil business was booming and things were good back in '07 for the centennial of Oklahoma."
It's been a different story in Arizona. Early pledges of up to $5 million in state dollars evaporated as the state budget faced daunting deficits. The commission has been relying almost entirely on private donations.
Fundraising was lackluster.
In October 2010, the commission convinced Karl Eller, chairman and CEO of the Eller Co., to lead its capital campaign. Still, it was no easy task.
"He took this on knowing full well that it would be like pushing water uphill," Holden said.
Eller rounded up contributions from corporate donors, but the "usual suspects" did not write six- and seven-figure checks, Holden said.
That shifted the commission's attention to smaller-scale efforts, such as the penny drive to raise money to buff up the copper dome on the 1900 Capitol and raffle tickets to win the "copper chopper," a custom motorcycle with abundant copper detailing designed by artist Paul Yaffe.
"We're selling things frantically," Churchard said of centennial-themed items.
The penny drive took an unexpected -- and fortunate -- turn when a October 2010 hailstorm caused so much damage to the dome that it had to be replaced, with insurance picking up the tab. The penny-drive proceeds are in an endowment fund to polish up the dome the next time it needs it, Churchard said.
Copper-chopper ticket sales will probably be just enough to cover the costs of touring the motorcycle around the state, Churchard said.
Although centennial plans started in 2004,progress was haphazard. Gov. Janet Napolitano established the Arizona Centennial Commission in 2008, but those efforts slowed when Jan Brewer became governor.
Brewer had higher priorities, such as wrestling with a gaping budget hole.
Brewer added a complication when she announced plans to convert the Mining and Mineral Museum into a centennial museum. That led to the mining museum's abrupt closure last year, angering volunteers and staffers.
"It's been a challenge to have the negativity surrounding it," said Churchard, the only commission staffer on the state payroll.
Meanwhile, conversion of the building at 15th Avenue and Washington Street into the Arizona Experience Museum is on hold. So far, there's $950,000 pledged toward the $12.75 million effort.
Last year, the Arizona Small Business Association threatened to sue for a trademark violation over the commission's use of the word "amAZing" in its promotional materials. The business group has a trademark on the phrase "be amAZed."
That prompted the commission to drop plans to use banners proclaiming "amAZing."
Differing opinions of how to celebrate the centennial also scuttled plans to stage Best Fests in each of Arizona's historical capitals.
While Prescott had a three-day fest last fall, Tucson and the commission couldn't agree on where to hold the event. Tucson will host its own celebration.
One of the few commission projects that's run smoothly is the transformation of Washington Street into "Centennial Way." Paid for by a $6.8 million federal transportation grant, matched by a $400,000 Phoenix contribution, the street is now lined with memorials to the state's counties and Native American tribes.
The complications have lowered expectations, but many said they're not sure what the standard should be for a centennial.
"It's been tough, but I'm not down," said Marshall Trimble, state historian and member of the Centennial Commission. "It's probably going to be the only one I'm going to see."
|
AZ Central
|
|
|
Prev
Linear Mode
