2018 Arizona Official State Visitor's Guide - 32

BRIDGING
THE GAP

Arizona Inn, Tucson
COURTESY ARIZONA INN

Arizona Inn, Tucson
AMY HASKELL

the exclusive getaway from pre-cast
blocks made on-site from desert sand,
their geometric patterns evoking palm
trees, and preserved as many cacti
on the property as possible. Privately
owned-chewing-gum magnate and
Chicago Cubs owner William Wrigley Jr. became the sole proprietor in
1930-it was available for stays by invitation only for several decades. Marilyn
Monroe was among the guests who
splashed around the Catalina Pool and
Irving Berlin composed White Christmas while sitting at its edge. Wright's
influence on the resort was enhanced
in the 1970s, when Taliesin Associated
Architects, the firm Wright established
in Scottsdale, renovated the resort,
adding Wright-inspired designs to the
lobby rugs, among other details.
While political luminaries frequented
all the hotels featured here, Tucson's
32 Arizona 2018 Official State Visitor's Guide

Arizona Inn (visitarizona.com/business/arizona-inn) was also built by
one: Isabella Greenway, Arizona's first
congresswoman and a lifelong friend
of Eleanor Roosevelt. She came up with
the idea for a homey yet luxurious retreat in the late 1920s but started construction in 1930, by which time the
stock market had crashed. Greenway
helped maintain jobs for disabled World
War I veterans at her Arizona Hut cabinet-making shop by having them craft
all of the inn's furniture. The sprawling
lodging complex, composed of 25 lowslung structures on 14 gorgeously landscaped acres-the plants are mostly
Arizona natives-is still notable for its
pink stucco exteriors. Now, however,
the inn is a historic landmark in the
heart of town, rather than a newly established gathering spot for movers
and shakers at its outskirts. Movers and
shakers still confab at the Audubon Bar,
known for original art prints and live
piano music; the furniture is still made
and restored by master crafters on the
premises; and the Inn remains in the
same family, four generations later.

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Building a world-class hotel to promote tourism in a town might be considered ambitious but well within the
realm of standard industry practices.
Buying and transporting a bridge
across an ocean? That's off the marketing charts. Yet that's precisely
what Robert McCulloch did for Lake
Havasu City.
McCulloch's ambitions began with
founding the city in the first place.
The small-motor manufacturer-he
made much of his fortune producing chainsaws-turned a World War
II Army Air Corps landing field and
convalescent camp into a planned
community, officially incorporated in
1964. And when the city of London
put an 1830s bridge that was sinking into the Thames up for auction
in 1968, McCulloch bought it for just
over $2.4 million. He then spent another $7 million to have it moved to
Arizona, block by granite block. The
London Bridge was reconstructed on
a narrow channel of Lake Havasu.

Were the time and expense worth
it? The Lord Mayor of London attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony
for the bridge on October 10, 1971,
and the event grabbed the attention
of the international press. English village-style shops cropped up around
the span; the population of Lake
Havasu City grew from some 8,000
in 1971 to around 52,000 today; and
people still want to go to "that place
in the desert that has the London
Bridge." So the answer to that question would be a definitive "Yes."



http://www.visitarizona.com/business/arizona-inn http://www.visitarizona.com/business/arizona-inn

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2018 Arizona Official State Visitor's Guide

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg18
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg16
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg15
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg14
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg13
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg12
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg11
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/madden/az_ovg10
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