The council's request for the general public to donate $1M+ to finish the Mission Gardens after having spent tens of millions on unrealized plans for the Tucson Origins Heritage Park carries more than a bit of irony:
An 8' adobe wall around the Mission Garden's perimeter was recently built at a
cost of $1M, but the garden itself remains unfinished.
(photo: city of Tucson)
Gifts sought to complete gardens of Rio Nuevo
City Council passing the hat to raise up to $1 million for project centerpiece
By Rob O'Dell
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
10.15.2009
The city of Tucson will pass the hat, hoping to rake in as much as $1 million in private donations, to help finish Rio Nuevo's Mission Gardens — the centerpiece of what voters approved 10 years ago. Although the city is eligible for about $600 million in state taxes for Rio Nuevo, most of that has been redirected to a Downtown hotel and arena, prompting the City Council to create a short-term and long-term plan to finish the Mission Gardens project through private donations.
Wednesday's unanimous council vote directs contributions to go to a citizens group called Friends of Tucson's Birthplace. However, the group cannot yet collect donations because it doesn't have tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. The donations would go only to finish the Mission Gardens, not the entire Tucson Origins Heritage Park, which was to include the re-creation of Tucson's birthplace including the Mission San Agustín and its convento, granary and Carrillo House, for which the city spent $9 million on design and plans. Jessie Sanders, Rio Nuevo project director, said the fundraising effort and the final construction of the four-acre gardens are "going to take a long time to happen." He said the community needs to donate time, plants, materials and water in order to "make this happen."
Council members enthusiastically backed the plan to seek private donations to finish the Mission Gardens, which the city estimated in March would cost a total of $3 million. It was supposed to be paid for by Rio Nuevo tax-increment financing money, which is state sales tax diverted from the state.
Sanders and council members cited last year's economic meltdown as the reason the city could not finish the Mission Gardens with Rio Nuevo money. No one mentioned the millions spent on studies and plans that have since been shelved. Sanders said the city has spent $43 million total on the west side preparing the area for development.
Councilwoman Regina Romero suggested the short-term plan to move ahead quickly, adding that she wants to start thinking about a long-term plan to finish the gardens as well. Mayor Bob Walkup said the city is "poised to move forward." We've already accomplished a lot," Walkup said. "It's really a bright period we're headed into."
Sanders said there's no way to know the exact cost to finish the gardens. One estimate was $1 million, but that didn't include a parking lot at the site, which is west of the Santa Cruz River near West Mission Lane. Sanders said there has already been interest in donating money and plants to put at the site. He said anyone interested in helping preserve Tucson's birthplace can call Bill Dupont of the Friends of Tucson's Birthplace at 404-7237. "These are not taxpayer dollars," Sanders said, adding the Mission Gardens are "the best-kept secret in the city of Tucson."
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