Downtown Tucsonan - December 2008 - (Page 5)

D ow n tow n Low d ow n 14th annual Downtown Parade of Lights t a k e s p a l c e o n S a t u r d a y, D e c e m b e r 1 3 . V i s i t w w w. d o w n t o w n t u c s o n . c o m f o r d e t a i l s . photos copyright Jeff Smith C u r t B r i l l ’s b i g g e r - t h a n - l i f e b r o n z e sculptures on display at the Main Library Jacome Plaza through December 31. While his sales force can’t take hard purchase contracts until all paperwork processes are completed, “We can build up an interest list and we’re getting lots of calls and e-mail from our web site. If the marketplace was what it was in recent years, this product would be a no-brainer,” Rulney says of his 1-acre plot. The Flats at Julian Drew Block, 53 studio and onebedroom condos at 188 East Broadway, are expected to begin construction in early 2009 with units ready for move-in before the end of the year. this time, we’re still working with the Arizona Department of Transportation and have nothing yet to report.” More forward motion on 4th Avenue Underpass construction however. “Demolition of the south half of the old underpass is scheduled for the first week of December, to be followed by structural concrete work,” says Project Manager Mike Skilsky. That concrete work will go through June ’09 along with pedestrian bridges, traffic signals, lighting and landscaping, and the overhead electric system for the streetcar/trolley with tracks through the Underpass to be installed in July. The Underpass is scheduled to open in July/August 2009. OLD TO BECOME NEW AGAIN Big doings at the Jewish History Center (formerly the Jewish Heritage Center) at 564 South Stone Avenue. “We’ve burned our mortgage and stopped being a restoration project. Now we can reach out to the community to celebrate what we are,” says historic preservationist and museum director Eileen Warshaw. And what they are, she says, is “the first Jewish house of worship in all of the Southwest and the actual site where everything Jewish in Tucson got started.” In addition to the museum property, an adjacent 1200 square foot building (ancestral home to the pioneering Carrillo family) has just been purchased and after restoration will become the Jewish History Museum Resource Center focusing on genealogy, the holocaust, and a Southwest Jewish library. “Our annual month-long Jewish Storytelling event (January 18-February 15, 2009) will be telling our own story with genealogy workshops, lectures and films,” Warshaw says. FINAL CONSTRUCTION Maynards’ Track Side Market on the east end of the historic train depot is on-target for a soft opening in early December. “I’m up at 4am, at the site shortly thereafter for a full day of construction, and home and asleep by 7pm and that’s the way most days have been going,” says Richard Oseran of Hotel Congress, partnered with son-in-law Todd Hanley and developer Ross Rulney on the project.. “We should be substantially complete by the first week in December and able to open for some events at that time, perhaps some connection with the Downtown Parade of Lights. Coolers and shelves are installed and operational and we’ll start stocking very soon with prepared foods available following that. As far as our own grand opening, our inclination is to wait a bit until any kinks are smoothed out before we officially cut the ribbon.” The site is intended to be a neighborhood-style eatery with a bakery, pizzeria, wine and cheese bar, and a downtown vision of a convenience market where foods from local growers will be sold. After buying up the former Central Bistro location and restaurant equipment, the partners have spent another half million dollars in improvements. “This place will be dramatically different,” says Oseran. T.I.C.E.T. GETS PUNCHED Tucson Inner City Express Transit (TICET), “a major contribution to the revitalization of downtown providing visitors and residents with a convenient way to move from their parking spot to any downtown venue” (according to the ParkWise web page) has had its last ticket punched, ceasing operation on November 22. Although the 5-day-a-week, 5-route shuttle line carried as many as 12,000 downtown commuters, the service cost half a million annually and became financially nonsustainable in a tight economy. “We’re sad to see TICET service end,” says Chris Leighton of ParkWise. “However, the Commerce Park Route (purple route) will continue to operate under the Transit Services Division of Tucson Department of Transportation. This route links the Ronstadt Transit Center with services west of I-10 and has obtained grant funding to continue operation for at least the next two years.” MOTZI NO MORE? The doors to Motzi Restaurant, 47 N. Scott Avenue, opened on May 1st. By November 1st, they appear closed. Phones continue to ring, but neither Wayne Anderson nor James Botwright, co-owners, are on hand to answer the question of what is going on at the pastry shop/bakery that at one time featured a kosher meat-free lunch menu. FIVE IN ONE Downtown architect and developer Rob Paulus has achieved the unusual feat of winning five awards in a single month for indigoMODERN, Tucson’s modern and green community. Two of the Builder’s Choise accolades came from Builder magazine while the American Institute of Architects (Western Mountain Region, Arizona, and Southern Arizona) presented the other three. “Design done right becomes a point of leverage,” noted Builder magazine. “This is what architecture is supposed to do, create design that adds value,” reported the regional AIA. IndigoMODERN consists of 11 homes in Central Tucson, designed by Paulus and developed by 3rd Street Lofts, LLC, who also developed the Ice House Lofts and Barrio Metalico. ON LOAN By his own admission, Rich Singer, Tucson Convention Center Executive Director, prefers the creativity of building something new rather than managing existing facilities. He’s been offered that chance and is now on loan from the city to function as interim director of the Fox Tucson Theatre. Deputy TCC director Tommy Obermaier has taken over daily responsibilities at the Convention Center. The move is designed as a minimum six month gig at the former movie theater venue. “My mission is to organize things to attract a new executive director (to replace Jim Williams who departed in September),” says Singer. “The Fox is a destination venue, a place for people to visit for both the talent and the theater itself. If we give people a reason to come downtown, they will.” STATUS REPORT “No money yet,” says Shelli Ginn, honchoette for Tucson’s modern streetcar project, who keeps checking the automatic deposit balance for a $75 million check in Federal Transportation Administration funds. With the calendar year about to end, “We expect to hear back about fed funds once the new administration takes effect,” she says. Also still in transit at this time is the process of land swaps in the arts warehouse district. Lou Ginsberg, Director of the City of Tucson Real Estate Program was hoping for some definitive results in November but now reports: “At december.08. downtown tucsonan 5 http://www.downtowntucson.com

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Downtown Tucsonan - December 2008 Contents Downtown Lowdown Arts Galleries Performing Arts Downtown Live Events Museums Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - December 2008

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