Annual tour of Historic Florence returns for another year

[Source: Gold Canyon Today]

Florence will celebrate its 26th Annual Tour of Historic Florence on Saturday, February 12, 2011 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.Image

Eleven historic homes, commercial buildings, and public buildings dating from 1868 to 1930 will be featured on the tour. Florence is noted for its collection of Territorial period architecture with over 120 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The heart of the downtown commercial district retains much of its original western character with old adobe homes, graceful Victorians, and early 20th century commercial structures. The tour not only focuses on the town’s architecturally significant buildings, it also gives visitors a glimpse of Florence’s colorful past. The stories that shape Florence’s history run the gamut from old west gun fights to politicians and movie stars.

In addition to the tour, visitors and residents alike will not want to miss the grand re-opening celebration of McFarland State Historic Park at 10:00 a.m.  Special guests Renee Bahl, Executive Director of Arizona State Parks; Marshall Trimble, Arizona’s Official State Historian; Jim Garrison, State Historic Preservation Officer; and Florence Mayor Vickie Kilvinger will all speak during the event. The park recently opened after being closed for more than two years thanks to a partnership among Arizona State Parks, the Town of Florence, and Florence Main Street Program. The park now houses the Florence Visitor Center in addition to the museum.

Among the other activities happening that day, the Pinal County Historical Society Museum will present
“The Southwest Table” at 2 p.m. where they will have a demonstration of cooking with cactus and other desert plants by Jean Groen, author of “Foods of the Superstitions” and “Plants of the Sonoran Desert and Their Many Uses.” The museum will have a special display consisting of American tableware of Southwest design from the 1940’s and 1950’s.

After the tour, stop by the Florence Aeromodeler Park to see the Fun Fly & Swap Meet just two miles south of Florence on Highway 79. The Blue Adobe Meeting Center will feature their weekly History Hub Matinee Shows at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. for a separate fee not included in tour admission.

The self-guided Tour of Historic Florence begins in downtown Florence at 291 N. Main Street, at the corner of Main Street and 8th Street. Admission for adults is $10 in advance or $12 on the day of the tour, children under 18 are free. Trolleys will provide transportation to tour sites at no additional cost. Proceeds from the tour support downtown revitalization activities of the Florence Main Street Program.

Major repair work underway at McFarland State Historic Park

[Source: Casa Grande Valley Newspapers] — A four-month contract to make extensive repairs and renovations to McFarland State Historic Park in Florence began last week.  The porch, which had been weakened by dry rot, was torn out but will definitely be replaced.  The rooms on the south side of the building, added for office space in the 1950s, will be removed so the porch may once again encircle the building.  “We want to make it look more like it did” as the original Pinal County Courthouse, Park Manager Christopher DeMille said.

A French drain, as well as a wall under the porch, will help ensure that water doesn’t contact the adobe wall anymore.  This and a new underground drainage system will drain water to the ditch between McFarland Park and the town of Florence’s Heritage Park.  The project includes repairs to the major cracks in the adobe walls.  Repairs to the walls made with red brick and cement in years past will be removed and replaced with adobe blocks.

The park at Main and Ruggles streets was closed in early February.  Amid the state’s continuing budget crisis, no reopening date has been announced. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Five Arizona Heritage Fund projects left hanging in Florence

[Source: Bonnie Bariola, Special to the Florence Reminder] — As the result of the Legislature reducing funding for Arizona State Parks, the Arizona State Parks Board has approved the use of Heritage Grant Funds to be used for State Parks operations.   State Parks has consequently suspended 71 Heritage Fund grants; five are located in Florence and are worth a total of $617,284.  These grants would have been matched 50/50 by the owners of each of the properties, which would have provided over a $1.2 million investment in Florence.

In 1990 the Arizona Heritage Fund was approved by two-thirds of Arizona voters.  This voter initiative designated $10 million from the Arizona Lottery funds each year to be used for grants administered by Arizona State Parks.  The Arizona Heritage Alliance is a nonprofit organization created in 1992 to protect Arizona’s Heritage Fund and its objectives.  It is guided by a Board of Directors drawn from a broad base of outdoor sports, environmental, conservation, and historic preservation organizations that helped pass the 1990 statewide voter initiative creating the Heritage Fund.

Members of the Heritage Alliance released a statement, “This fund has become a nationally acclaimed quality of life and economic development tool that supports and protects our state’s parks, open space, wildlife habitat, environmental education, trails, historic and cultural sites, and public access to public land.  It was not designated as operating funds for State Parks.  Since 1990, more than $338.5 million of Heritage Funds have been invested in preserving and enhancing an incredible array of natural, cultural, and recreational resources in every Arizona county and legislative district.  The economic multiplier factor brings that number up close to $1 billion.”

A total of 71 Heritage Fund grants totaling $11.4 million had been approved and were from 0 – 91% complete when the State Parks Board unanimously voted to suspend them.  The Heritage Alliance reported, “Many are ‘on the hook’ with signed agreements they cannot keep without the funds, as well as half-restored and roofless historic properties, half-built park structures that are now an eyesore and possible safety hazard, and fragile archaeological artifacts that now are not in compliance with federal standards. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Visitors, volunteers, staff bid adieu to Tonto Natural Bridge park

Leo Budd of Payson, who has been visiting Tonto Natural Bridge for more than 30 years, pays a visit on Feb. 26, 2009, the day the park was set to close due to state budget cuts.

[Source: Alyson Zepeda, Cronkite News Service] — Leo Budd has been coming to Tonto Natural Bridge since 1971, long before this site became a state park.  When he learned it was closing, he rushed here from his Payson home.  “It’s definitely a sad event,” Budd said.  “I bring all of my out-of-town visitors here to see this.”

As of Thursday, Arizona State Parks closed Tonto Natural Bridge State Park and Jerome State Historic Park.  The agency, grappling with budget cuts, said the parks, as well McFarland State Historic Park in Florence, which already was shut down for repairs, are in dire need of repairs.  A steady trickle of visitors took their last chance — at least for now — to view Tonto Natural Bridge on Thursday, some seeing it for the first time and others bidding farewell after years of dropping by.  “It’s sad that they have to close it,” said Tina Beebe of Pontiac, Ill., visiting for the first time with her husband, Pete.

At 183 feet high and more than 400 feet long, Tonto Natural Bridge, located about 10 miles north of Payson, is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world.  Once owned by a family that ran a guest ranch on the site, it opened as a state park in 1991.  Around 45 volunteers, some of whom have made caring for the park the focus of their retirement, have been told that their services are no longer needed because it’s a liability to have them on the grounds unsupervised.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]