A $500,000 grant awarded to the Primavera Foundation will be used in partnership with the city of South Tucson for neighborhood revitalization projects.
The projects include an architectural design for a proposed park, which will include a public art wall, said Alonzo Morado, a Primavera community engagement coordinator.
The design of the park, which will include input from residents, is planned on more than an acre of vacant land on West 35th Street between South Seventh and South Eighth avenues. The park will include public art created around the the theme “water is life,” said Morado.
A wall of art at the park is planned to be designed by local artists and students at Las Artes Arts & Education Center in South Tucson. The art will include multicultural roots representing Tohono O’odham, Pascua Yaqui and Chicano communities, Morado said.
Arnold Palacios, who heads Las Artes, said in a Primavera news release, that his staff and students are excited about the partnership with the foundation in the art project for the planned park. “This collaboration gives our students the opportunity to contribute to South Tucson through the creation of mosaic art that reflects the culture and history of our community,” he said.
“It will highlight the enormous pride we take in our cultural heritage,” said Palacios, adding that students will acquire skills in “collaborating, cooperating and creating art for the community.”
There is no public pool in the square-mile city and residents have already voiced their desire for a splash park. Other amenities include picnic tables, grilling areas, a ramada, drinking fountains and restrooms. Plans also include trees and other vegetation, said Morado.
Morado explained that the park will be in the city’s southern end of the major extension of the El Paso & Southwestern Greenway, a Tucson, Pima County and South Tucson project of bike paths, including a 6-mile pathway from downtown through South Tucson and beyond. The bicycle pathway will cover one mile in South Tucson and can be used by walkers and joggers.
Business owner Noe Mencias, who opened Cicli Noe at 1622 S. Sixth Ave. last year, said Primavera’s revitalization work in South Tucson is necessary to attract more businesses to the city. “There is a lot of potential for growth here. Residents are very caring toward their neighbors, something you don’t see often in larger cities,” said Mencias, operator of the shop that services bicycles.
The 26-year-old entrepreneur, who is a 2009 Pueblo High Magnet School graduate, said the business growth potential and the need for bicycle services on the south side is what attracted him to South Tucson.
“I have been busy since the day I opened,” said Mencias, who attracts customers from throughout Tucson, including the Foothills. He services vintage collector items on up to modern day bicycles, including mountain and BMX. He also works on bikes used by riders for daily transportation.
One of the murals on his building is dedicated to friend Kevin Peraza, 23, a gold medal winner in BMX contests at the X Games.
The grant also will support initiatives of Healthy South Tucson, a coalition of nonprofits and governmental programs, that work to improve health and wellness in communities, said coalition president Lorenzo Gonzalez.
Projects include health fairs, monthly neighborhood cleanups, providing school supplies and clothing to needy students, and supporting three after-school programs, including community gardens at Las Abuelitas Family Housing and Community Center.
Las Abuelitas housing was developed by Primavera for seniors who are raising their grandchildren so they can consult with one another and arrange cooperative carpools or child care.
Primavera will also provide four new single family homes for first-time homebuyers on formerly distressed lots. The foundation began working in South Tucson in 2007, and its work includes the development of 42 single-family homes, and the 12-unit housing at Las Abuelitas.
The grant was awarded by NeighborWorks America, a congressionally chartered nonprofit that supports community development.
