Tucson’s Santa Rita Park is undergoing a multi-million-dollar upgrade that requires its temporary closure, prompting criticism from groups that aid people who are homeless.
The park on East 22nd Street north of South Tucson is a popular resting place for homeless people. Advocates have been critical of the city and how the closure has been handled.
The park closed late last month, and fencing was installed around it ahead of an April 24 groundbreaking ceremony. The project is expected to be finished by the summer of 2026.
The city is investing about $8.4 million into the park, constructing a new splash pad, playground, walking area, a plaza area and restroom facility among other improvements. It also is planting over 300 trees and shrubs, the city said.
Funding comes from a combination of general fund dollars, impact fees, a Tohono O’odham Nation Gaming Grant and over $5.5 million in bond funds from Proposition 407, which voters approved in 2018.
The city began engaging with community about project in January 2021. Neighbors have complained they don’t feel safe at the park.
Groups that aid homeless people who frequent Santa Rita Park have been critical of its closure during a major improvement project, saying there’s a lack of services nearby for people who were forced out.
But the improvement project has also faced pushback over the effect the long construction period will mean for the many homeless people there.
Shortly after fencing went up around the park, local advocates began posting signs, ribbons and water bottles on-and-around the fencing. Their effort is to bring awareness to the fact that the park has been a popular resting place for homeless people.
Community On Wheels, which started in late 2020, has been regularly been at the park on Saturdays, distributing food, water, clothes, hygiene products and other items to those who gather at the park. Ahead of the park’s closure, the group criticized the city for closing Santa Rita despite a lack of services for people forced out. They have complained to the city that individuals who need help wouldn’t “evaporate into thin air” once it closed.
Santa Rita Park was closed late last month for a more than $8 million improvement project that is expected to be finished by the summer 2026
“Homeless people don’t just go away. People are scattered around the park and desperate for shade, a place to sit down and simply exist,” the group said last week. “Santa Rita wasn’t perfect but it was a spot to exist during the day. This was an incredibly irresponsible decision by the city and it affects us all.”
Most of the ribbons and other materials around the fencing have been removed. But the city did not do it, said city spokesman Andy Squire.
Durazo Construction, the major contractor for the project, made the decision to remove the items, said Squire, noting that the fencing is private property.
