Historic Preservation

Heritage Fund was great benefit to Florence; several projects were dropped when it was cut

by

[Source: Bonnie Bariola, Florence Blade Reminder] – If the Arizona Natural Resources Protection Act is eventually approved by the voters of Arizona, the plan is for it to replace the Heritage Grant Fund managed by Arizona State Parks that the Legislature deleted from the Arizona Statutes in 2011.

From 1991 through 2006, Heritage Fund Grants added $2,887,181 to Pinal County’s economy. This breaks down to: Casa Grande $673,116, Coolidge $340,841, Superior $81,991, and Florence $1,791,233.

Projects made possible in Florence as a direct result of the Heritage Fund were:

• the William Clarke House which is now home to the Florence Reminder and Blade Tribune;

• Florence/Silver King Marketplace which provides space for four businesses in the downtown;

• The Historic Chapel of the Gila;

• Old Main at Florence High School;

Without the Heritage Funds having been available, the above structures would not have been saved for future generations.

Additional projects that utilized Heritage Funds were:

• Harvey/Niemeyer House now home to Options, A Crisis Pregnancy Center;

• Church of the Assumption;

• 2nd Pinal County Courthouse:

• Brunenkant Bakery Store Building;

• Popular/Mandell’s Department Store now True Value Hardware;

• Five homes in the Historic District.

In some instances, multiple grants were received over time for some of the above projects.

The following approved grants with signed contracts were canceled after the Legislature “swept” the funds to pay other bills: sponsored by the Florence Main Street Program — W.C. Smith & Co. Building rehab (the former Florence Market). Sponsored by The Florence Preservation Foundation — Cuen House & Butcher Shop located on N. Main Street; Denier/ White Apartment Building located across the street from the 2nd Pinal County Courthouse; and the Celaya/Long Sweeney Residence located on Ruggles across the street from the Police Department. If the Arizona Natural Resources Protection Act becomes law, it is possible funds can be secured through the grant program to again begin rehabilitation of these buildings.

State Parks petitions hit the street

by

[Source: Steve Ayers, Camp Verde Bugle] – The move to put an initiative on the November ballot that supporters hope will stabilize and sustain Arizona’s 27 state parks, is underway. It is known as the Arizona Natural Resources Protection Act. With five state parks located in the Verde Valley, along with the Verde River Greenway, the initiative is getting plenty of support locally.

“This has everything to do with the value of state parks to the Verde Valley and to Yavapai County,” says Chip Norton, president of the Friends of the Verde River Greenway. “It means a lot to our communities and the opportunities it provides for school kids as well as the residents. The tourism component is really big. The amount of money it brings into the valley is pretty phenomenal. They have been hanging on the edge for too long, forcing local communities to keep them going.” Norton and the friends group launched the petition drive at a meeting last Thursday, at a meeting in Cottonwood.

If the initiative makes the ballot and it passes, it would fund the operations of Arizona State Parks as well as the Heritage Fund, which was also raided by the Legislature, with a $14 donation attached to annual vehicle registration. The charge would be automatically added to the registration cost, but vehicle owners could opt out. Supporters hope it will raise $30 million a year. The initiative protects all money donated to the fund from legislative sweeps and re-establishes the Arizona State Parks grant program, which pays for municipal and nonprofit recreation projects across the state. It also provides for free admission to state parks for school-age children when on school sanctioned field trips and sets aside at least one day every year in which anyone could come to a state park for free.

The initiative was launched by the Arizona State Parks Foundation after House Bill 2362, which overwhelmingly passed both the house and Senate, was vetoed by Gov. Jan Brewer. “We have been watching for some time and realized there was growing support for long-term support and a long term funding mechanism of some sort. So we began forming a coalition,” says ASPF Director Christy Statler. “The straw that broke the camel’s back was the governor’s veto. And no legislator wanted to stick their neck out for a referral to the voters, so we mobilized and are moving forward with the Arizona Natural Resources Act.”

Volunteers will be circulating petitions around the valley over the next few weeks. To get on the ballot, 175,000 signatures will need to be collected statewide by the July 5 deadline.

Firefighters save historic ranch house from wildfire in San Rafael Valley

by

[Source: JB Miller, NogalesInternational.com] – A wildfire that authorities say was likely started by a lightning strike scorched approximately 189 acres at and around the San Rafael State Natural Area on Friday night, threatening a historic ranch house and burning down an outbuilding. There were no injuries.

Patagonia Volunteer Fire and Rescue, which initially took command of the fire, was dispatched at approximately 8 p.m. along with firefighters from the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District and the Coronado National Forest. By Saturday morning, command of the fire had been turned over to the Arizona State Forestry Division.

Captain Ike Isakson of Patagonia Volunteer Fire and Rescue said the so-called “San Rafael Fire” burned down a pump house, but firefighters were able to protect the main ranch house.

The territorial-style ranch house, which is now managed by Arizona State Parks, was built in 1900 and is more than 9,000 square feet in size. The landscape and house have been featured in many movies, according to the state parks website.

“Arizona residents should be thanking the Patagonia Fire Department for reacting so quickly,” said Ellen Bilbrey, spokesperson for Arizona State Parks. “They actually saved one of the most important buildings in the state.”

Clarke House in Florence saved with help of the Heritage Fund

by

[Source: Bonnie Bariola, Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune] –The Historic William Clarke House was saved for future generations to enjoy, thanks in large part to the Heritage Fund. The William Clarke house was built in 1884 as the home to newlyweds, William and Ella Clarke. The house was furnished with elegant new furniture from California. Except for three years, 1885-1888, the Clarkes resided in the Clarke House on Main Street in Florence. Ella first taught school and later became the postmistress while William worked in prospecting and mining.

During this time the Clarke House gained social prominence when the Clarkes hosted many tea parties, ice cream socials, musicals, and concerts. The last of the Clarke relatives passed away in 1956 at which time all the fine furnishings were sold at auction.

This territorial adobe house was abandoned for three years. The first real preservation effort in Florence began in 1959 when a group calling itself “The Go-For-Broke Associates” purchased the Clarke House from the estate of the last member of the Clarke family, for the purpose of “preserving it for its historic interest.” Unfortunately, this group was unable to rehabilitate or make an attempt to preserve the building.

Over the years rain caused the adobe walls to become unstable. Because of the potential danger to the public, the Town Council began discussions of condemnation of the building. In 1973 Miss Shirley Weik, Extension Agent of the Cooperative Extension Service at Casa Grande, paid to have a new iron fence constructed around the entire perimeter of the property. At that time portions of the roof were in serious need of repair yet the basic fabric and interior detailing remained intact.

Grant awarded

The house remained abandoned until 1994 when the town attorney, with assistance from Realtor Joe O’Betka and Ophelia Padilla, were able to gain title to the building and grounds from the descendants of the original twelve Go-For-Broke investors. At that time the town’s grants writer applied for and received a Heritage Fund grant for $105,000 to begin rehabilitation of the Clarke House.

With title to the property and a Heritage Fund Grant, the town was looking for someone to take over title and provide the match of $45,000 to begin rehabilitation of the property. Fortunately the owner of the Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, Donovan Kramer Sr., agreed to assume title to the property and provide the match for the existing grant and rehabilitate the property as home to the Florence Reminder and Blade Tribune.

In an agreement with State Parks and the town of Florence, The Florence Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization, agreed to be the sponsor and administrator of the grant. An additional grant was written by the Foundation in 2000 for $52,000 with Mr. Kramer providing match of $52,000. It should be emphasized that Mr. Kramer contributed far more money to this project than just the $97,000 match for the grants. The $157,000 Heritage Funds provided leverage for approximately $300,000 in private funds to be spent.

Proud to preserve history

Donovan Kramer, Jr., publisher of the Florence Reminder and Blade-Tribune, said, “Restoring the Clarke House as a home for the Florence newspaper was a project that was dear to the heart of my late father, Donovan Kramer Sr. He was proud to join many Florence residents in their quest to preserve the history of such a special town, so integral to the history of Pinal County and Arizona.”

This is yet another example of how the Heritage Funds were used to save a historic property in Florence. In 1990 the voters of Arizona voted to use $10 million of lottery funds for historic preservation, conservation, and trails. Due to difficult economic times, the Legislature deleted the verbiage from the Arizona Revised Statutes in 2010. HRC 2047 would send the Heritage Fund verbiage back to the voters to let them vote once again, to return them to the Arizona Revised Statutes. Please contact your legislators asking them to please support HRC 2047 to Restore the Voters’ Heritage Fund.

The passage of the Heritage Fund would create jobs in this difficult economy as well as help save more historic properties the same as the William Clarke House.