Rio Nuevo is dead. Long live the urban renaissance, renewal, re-development, what have you.
If your life has been stuck in thralldom to malldom and you haven’t been to downtown Tucson recently you might be surprised at what’s going on there. It’s not The Loop or Broadway and 42nd street, but neither is it the last scene from “On The Beach.”
I spent last Saturday At the H.O.G (Harley Owner’s Group) rally taking advantage of events and venues that were on the rally list of things to do when not playing ‘bite the weenie’ from the back of a motorcycle.
Downtown was pretty exciting. There was a folk festival, the Hog Rally, and a variety of musical events that attracted crowds. It occurs to me that the first step in re-making downtown as a center of urban energy is to make sure that there are multiple events there every weekend.
Tucson should spend money to make that happen, which in the long run might be the cheapest way to re-energize the area.
The relatively new (six months, I believe) Downtown Museum of the Arizona Historical Society is fascinating. It presents a wonderful picture of downtown Tucson as it was
“…Pay a visit to a 19th Century hotel lobby, then check out an old-time barbershop. Learn about the capture of John Dillinger and his gang…Explore the history of downtown’s police force, firefighters, schools, libraries, businesses, theaters, and more.)
The museum is located at 140 North Stone, just opposite the library.
One problem: The museum is not open on Saturday and Sunday. That’s where the city might come up with money… to keep it open on those days.
Adults, $3.00, Seniors $2.00. Free the first Friday of each month.
1 comment:
I love the idea of promoting the capture of Dillinger as a tourist draw to Tucson. On key fact in this little piece of Tucson History: The jail in Tucson is the only one that Dillinger never escaped from.
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