Heritage Fund

Cottonwood council supports AZ League Resolution to reinstate Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund

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[Source: Jon Hutchinson, Verde Independent] – Five members of the Cottonwood City Council are attending the annual conference of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns this week. The annual meeting is in OroValley at the Hilton El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort. The gathering brings together most of Arizona‘s 80-plus cities and towns.

Cottonwood City Manager Doug Bartosh said meetings such as this allow council members to see and learn what other municipalities are doing and to share what Cottonwood is doing, especially when faced with similar issues. They network, return energized, and bring back ideas for Cottonwood, said Bartosh.

The expenses cost the city just over $4,500 for the five council members including food, lodging and the $290 registration fee per person. Ruben Jauregui and Vice Mayor Karen Pfeifer did not attend. Mayor Joens and Jesse Dowling drove city cars. Others were compensated for driving their personal vehicles. There was no car-pooling.

Mayor Diane Joens left early for the conference since she is a member of the Legislative Resolutions Sub-Committee that met early Tuesday afternoon.

Cottonwood Economic Development Coordinator Casey Rooney was scheduled to make a presentation at the conference.

Among the many issues facing conferees are presentations on the Affordable Health Care Act, Wildfire Management, Bridging the Digital Disconnect, Civil Discourse and Conflict Resolution, Destination Marketing and Branding among many others issues.

Resolutions supported by Cottonwood and the Verde Valley

• Ensure the viability of Arizona State Parks and restore the Arizona State Park Heritage Fund, including to allow municipalities to enter into long-term leases of State Parks.

• Allow the final list in a procurement process until a contract for construction is entered into.

Sedona is sponsoring legislations to:

• Restrict trucks in urban areas to the two right-most lanes

• Legislation to restore the Highway User Revenue Fund distribution to cities and towns and to prevent any future sweeps of HURF funds.

 

Finding common bonds: Camp Verde Town Council to look at shared issues

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[Source: Camp Verde Bugle] – At its meeting Wednesday night, the Camp Verde Town Council has a short agenda, with the biggest chunk taken up by proposed resolutions coming before the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Like other municipalities, CampVerde is being asked which resolutions it is supporting.

The Town of Camp Verde is already a co-sponsor on a couple of the resolutions going before the LACT. Of these, the major advocacy is for legislation “to ensure the viability of Arizona State Parks, including but not limited to allowing municipalities to enter into long-term leases of state parks and the restoration of the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund.

Yuma and Sedona are sponsors of the resolution, with CampVerde, Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Jerome, Flagstaff, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Somerton, OroValley and Sierra Vista as co-sponsors.

Mayor Charlie German has also suggested that CampVerde join up with Cottonwood and Clarkdale in sponsoring an application to display the art exhibit “A River Runs Thru Us” at the State Capitol in January. That item is also on Wednesday’s agenda.

The exhibit is the product of a Verde Valley Land Preservation outreach effort that sent scores of artists down the Verde River in CampVerde. Their resulting works are now in a mobile exhibit that will be at the MANHEIM GALLERY in Cottonwood until Aug. 25 and then comes to the White Hills Gallery in CampVerde.

VVLP Community Outreach Director Steve Estes said the exhibit was looking for a quality venue in Phoenix when they saw that the ArizonaExecutiveTowers had an opening that month. A municipal sponsorship is a boost to an application.

“I think it would be a wonderful display of regional support for the Verde River if all three communities along the river co-sponsored this exhibit,” Clarkdale Mayor Doug Von Gausig wrote to German and Cottonwood Mayor Diane Joens.

 

Historic Silver King Hotel suite in Florence renovated, hoping to pull in an anchor

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Mark Cowling/Florence Reminder

The town of Florence is hoping to draw a new downtown anchor business to the historic Silver King Hotel, which was repaired and reopened in 2009 with the help of the Heritage Fund.

The Arizona Heritage Alliance is a nonprofit organization that was formed in 1992 for the purpose of working to prevent the Arizona State Legislature from taking or eliminating the Heritage Fund. Since the Legislature has eliminated the portion of the fund going to historic preservation projects like this, the alliance is looking for ways to restore it.

[Source: Christina Sampson, Florence Reminder] –After weeks of renovations, the dust has settled and the most spacious business suite in the Silver King Hotel is ready for a new tenant. The town paid about $20,000 to install new sinks, a grease interceptor, a tankless water heater and to improve the air conditioning system, all in hopes of attracting a new anchor business to the building.

“We’re looking for an eating establishment or an eating and drinking establishment,” Jess Knudson, assistant town manager, said. However, he added, the space could accommodate a different business, too. “It also could serve as a real nice retail establishment,” Knudson said. The suite, formerly the location of Second Hand Rose, has now been vacant for months. The overall goal, Knudson said, is to get “a tenant that will attract more people to the downtown area.”

To that end, the space will be leased at a rate below market price and a budget has been established to help a new tenant make any necessary changes to the space. “We’re going to have some money set aside so when we find the right tenant for that space we’ll be able to talk to them about what improvements they want,” Knudson said.

The town purchased the hotel and renovated it into four business suites using $500,000 in grant funds and $250,000 in town funds. Knudson said when it purchased the hotel the town envisioned “bringing it to life and using it as a business incubator.”

Currently it is home to the Florence Fudge Company, the Silver King Hair Company and RZN8 (“resonate”) Media. “We were able to preserve a historic anchor downtown,” Knudson said.The suite’s future tenant will have more than just a newly renovated space, however.

Padilla Park

Plans to develop a park and social gathering space behind the hotel are well underway. At a June 17 meeting, the Florence Town Council approved the purchase of property located on Granite street for $32,500. The town hopes to combine the lot with property adjacent to the Silver King Hotel and turn it into Padilla Park at Silver King Plaza.

The park will feature “shade and social amenities” that could facilitate social functions and events, Knudson said. Professional landscapers will be solicited next, he said. The Silver King Hotel has metamorphosed several times since it was first built in 1876, when Florence was a mining town in every sense of the word. Its gabled roof made the L-shaped, adobe building stand out from the flat-roofed structures around it. It was renamed the Florence Hotel in 1890 but the main part of the building, on Main Street, was torn down after a fire in 1893.

Two years later, the red-brick building town residents are familiar with today was built, featuring a bar and restaurant on the first floor and 15 guest rooms. The hotel thrived, featuring a roofed balcony with canvas “sides” that could be rolled down to create outdoor sleeping “rooms” on hot summer nights and a stagecoach office.

In 1917, a second floor was added to the rear adobe wing that had survived the fire of 1893. The rooms were converted into low-rent housing and changed for modern building codes, such as the addition of a fire escape. Although the hotel eventually faded into history, the bar and restaurant survived until the 1970s. In 1995, a fire consumed the building, leaving only a bit of the adobe and brick walls. The rain did the rest on the adobe wing and eventually the walls began to dissolve and fall down.

Information about the suite can be found on the town’s website or by calling 868-7549.

State should begin its 2nd century by preserving series of landmarks, former Phoenix mayor says: Arizona Heritage Alliance is looking for ways to restore AZ Heritage Fund

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[Source: Bonnie Bariola, Florence Reminder] –The Arizona Heritage Alliance is a nonprofit organization that was formed in 1992 for the purpose of working to prevent the Arizona State Legislature from taking or eliminating the Heritage Fund. Unfortunately during difficult economic times, in 2009 the Legislature took away the Arizona State Parks portion of the fund and in 2010 completely eliminated the language from the Arizona Revised Statutes. Fortunately the Arizona Game and Fish Commission’s $10 million portion of the Heritage Fund remains intact.

The Alliance continues to meet, with its goal now being to get the Arizona State Parks portion of the Heritage Fund restored. At its June 25th meeting, the board members discussed several methods for funding a Heritage Fund as well as possible methods for restoration of the fund.

2nd Century Initiative

Former Phoenix Mayor John Driggs was guest speaker at the meeting presenting a project he is spearheading. Former Mayor Driggs chaired the Arizona Centennial Committee and in this capacity determined the state capitol and other state buildings should be rehabilitated as a showcase for not only Arizona but the entire United States.

He is promoting the Arizona Second Century Initiative that would be the rehabilitation of the Government Mall extending from the State Capitol to Hunt’s Tomb in Papago Park. In addition to the Arizona State Capitol and Hunts Tomb it would include the El Zaribah Shrine Building, Carnegie Library, Tovrea Castle and Grounds, National Guard Arsenal, the Arizona History Museum, the Sandra Day O’Connor house, and the Eisendrath House.

Driggs suggests the following “Arizona’s second century initiative would be ‘Building Harmony’ by applying community values recalled by our landmarks in shaping plans for the future.” He further says “Arizona would launch its second century by preparing several iconic venues to reflect the state’s cultural heritage. Respectfully rehabilitated landmark buildings will provide a lasting legacy for Arizona’s second century.”

He suggests the first phase of this project should be the complete rehabilitation of the El Zaribah Shrine Building. He would like to find private donors for this purpose and is hoping such donors will come forward. Once complete this building would provide a multipurpose assembly facility serving as a public forum and special events venue for state and local government.

Plans for the Carnegie Library would be to provide space for a special civics education center to promote civil dialogue and civic action. This new use could complement the existing uses in the library and correlate to the goals of the O’Connor House which is located in Papago Park.

It is his dream that Tovrea Castle and Gardens, owned by the city of Phoenix, could become the first Arizona State Park to be located in Maricopa County. It would be a joint venture with the city of Phoenix as owner with the Arizona State Parks system becoming a partner. Opened to the public in 2012, reservations for tours have far exceeded expectations and are booked months in advance.  The Tovrea Carraro Society provides thousands of volunteer hours by docents leading the tours and handling all aspects of the daily operations of the castle.

Located in Papago Park, the O’Connor House, home of the first woman to serve as a United States Supreme Court Justice, was moved from its original site in Paradise Valley to Tempe. It is now known as “The O’Connor House and Center for Civic Discourse” and provides a venue “for people and organizations to come together and resolve conflicts or disagreements peacefully.”

Hunt’s Tomb contains the remains of Arizona’s first governor, his wife and five other family members. Elected in 1912 when Arizona became a state, he ended his seventh term in 1933. After a visit to Egypt, he and his wife became fascinated with its pyramids which resulted in him seeking permission from the legislature to build a pyramid tomb.   Permission was granted and the tomb was built in its current site.

So what does all this have to do with the Arizona Heritage Alliance? If the Alliance can be successful in getting the Heritage Fund Grant Program reinstated, it would provide seed monies for the rehabilitation of many of these historic buildings. If Heritage Fund Grants were available, it would be easier to obtain private donations to complete the rehabilitation of these valuable historic buildings and resources.