Tucson City Councilman, Steve Kozachik, Rio Nuevo’s most vocal critic, has come out in support of progress. The surprise move by Kozachik comes at the same time the Rio Nuevo District Board was presented with a revived revenue generating West side project promised to voters in 1999.
“The time is right for Rio Nuevo and the City to move forward in addressing the need for a revitalized Convention Center and Hotel,” said Kozachik in a media release yesterday. For over a year, the City has resisted any progress in the District, demanding instead that the District pay the City’s bills.
Rio Nuevo Board, Chair Fletcher McCusker began yesterday’s meeting of the District Board by thanking the “disparate members of the public who have come forward to express their support for our work.’ McCusker recently joined the Board and has worked to mend the political divisions that have long plagued City progress.
McCusker said that in expressions of support and interest, “a theme has emerged; the west side. The Board has taken the spirit of the proposition to heart.” McCusker, referring to the proposition which was voted on by the voters in 1999, said that the bridge, “which has unfortunately be labeled the bridge to nowhere, may now become a bridge to our culture.”
The Board was then presented with the proposal for a private enterprise, supported by the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’Odham Nation called Rancho Chuk-Shon, and a geotourism generating project for Tumamoc Hill presented by the University of Arizona.
According to spokesman, Antony Mejia, the Rancho Chuk-Shon project “will create a future for Tucson that also reflects its past.” The project includes a Lienzo, retail shops, and a banquet hall along with space for cultural activities. It will focus on developing enterprises that bring jobs to the area.
The Lienzo, which is a Charro arena, will be the focal point. Organizers say that the project will focus on the equestrian community of entrepreneurs living in the area. “The one common element found in our rich and diverse western cultures is the horse. We celebrate that commonality in this project,” said Mejia in his presentation to the Board. “We believe it will be in frequent use by the community for personal entertainment and revenue generating corporate projects.”
The group hopes to work together with the Rio Nuevo Board to secure the land for the project which had previously been a City dump. Years ago, Josephina Cardenas, a leader in the surrounding community, with community elders had conceived of the project in an effort to honor Tucson’s birth place.
“The voters were promised many wonderful opportunities including Rancho Chuk-Shon,” Cardenas told the Board. “Working with the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’Odham Nation we have quietly struggled against political gamesmanship to hold on to and eventually realize the dream of restoring Tucson’s birthplace to a place of hope, and opportunity and a bright and exciting future.
The property upon which Rancho Chuk-Shon was to be built is the birthplace of Tucson. For years, that revered land became the site of our refuse. Despite this many of us had “Dreams for the Dump.”
Rancho Chuk-Shon says that it will raise the appropriate seed monies: to do a feasibility study, business plan, a concept development plan, for the project. Mejia told the Board, “As required by the Master Plan, we are: engaging in the economic and financial screening process, cementing neighborhood support, as well as public and political support. That process will also be applied to all of the projects outlined in the Rancho Chuk-Shon Plan.
All of our projects that seek or require funding related to TIF allocations will be subject to a process that evaluates their economic and financial feasibility, and subject to capitalization and development hurdles of varying magnitude.”
The group said that as a result of overwhelming interest in the community, including the business community, they will return to the Rio Nuevo Board next month with a comprehensive list of business and community partners as well as a completed plan.
“We are committed to helping these Westside projects evolve and believe an investment in our cultural heritage lands will increase tourism and revenue to downtown,” said McCusker of the project. “We will be asking the city and county for support.”
Representatives from the University of Arizona addressed the Board regarding their request to preserve Tumamoc Hill as an open space where investigators and visitors can come to see and to study its natural ecosystems and the traces of the city’s ancient people.
A 2300-year-old ruined village sits atop Tumamoc Hill. Tumamoc is both a U.S. National Historical Landmark and a U.S. Archaeological District.
Tumamoc is adjacent to Rio Nuevo land with a trail system that could connect to Tucson Mountain Park. The hope is to coordinate the projects on the west side, get available parking, a visitors center, three landmark venues for visitors, all accessible by streetcar. The Rancho Chuk-Shon visitor’s center would offer transportation up to Tumamoc Hill.