Tucson underpass to be renamed for late downtown booster

Donovan Durband died unexpectedly last year at age 58.

In addition to a memorial plaque for the renaming, the underpass will get new paint along with artwork depicting Downtown Tucson postcards collected by Durband, according to the city resolution approved this week by the city council.

Durband served as the Park Tucson administrator for more than 11 years. But he was best known in the community for his passion to improve downtown Tucson, something the city says he was instrumental in revitalizing.

Cleaning and re-painting of the underpass will begin early next year, said Erica Frazelle, a spokeswoman for Tucson’s Department of Transportation and Mobility. The artwork installation will follow.

The memorial plaque unveiling and naming ceremony will be held in March, Frazelle said.

Erin Durband, Donovan’s widow, requested the commemorative renaming of the underpass in a June email to transportation department director Sam Credio, because “If anyone knew the importance of making connections, it was Donovan.”

During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Erin Donovan said she “instantly knew” the underpass project was the right answer to honor her late husband.

“You see, it would’ve been too easy to stick his name on a city garage and call it good. But Donovan was much bigger than his position at Park Tucson. He was all about connections, and the Sixth Avenue underpass is an important connection point between his beloved downtown and the Sixth Avenue and Fourth Avenue districts, which he was so interested in seeing grow and develop,” she said. “Donovan was also very interested in revitalization, and so being able to bring various city and private groups together, along with our foundation to fix and clean up the historic Sixth Avenue underpass, as well as add a fun and historic public art component, just strengthens my belief that if he were here today, he would approve wholeheartedly of this project.”

Artist Steve Farley will be doing the postcard art. He is well-known for tile murals he created at the Broadway underpass near downtown that uses historic photos from the community that were turned in to tile art.

“Donovan and I have been friends since the late ’90s. We worked together in downtown revitalization when he was the assistant director for the Tucson Downtown Alliance,” Farley said. “We both shared this passion, interest in wanting to bring downtown back and make it more vital and have it based in history.”

“When I heard he passed away, I was absolutely shocked. It was just such and absolute loss for all of us, and obviously especially for his widow, Erin,” Farley said. “She and (former city councilman) Steve Kozachik contacted me about this idea, and immediately I wanted to do something to honor him.”

Farley and Durband were both postcard collectors and in fact traded some amongst themselves over the years. So, after signing on as project manager, Farley said he and Erin selected a few from Durband’s “great” collection.

“The postcards will be on two foot by three foot baked porcelain enamel panels,” Farley said. “And one of the panels will have a picture of Donovan, with a little very brief biography on it, so people know what it’s about.”

The idea of the underpass was pitched, Farley said, because Durband and his wife “were always very passionate about that underpass and doing something to make it better.”

Durband took over as executive director of the Tucson Downtown Alliance in May 1999, then in 2009 he joined former council member Steve Kozachik’s staff. He went to Park Tucson a few years later, but as Star columnist Tim Steller wrote shortly after Durband’s death, he remained deeply involved in downtown.

In early 2010, Durband and others revived the idea of a monthly gathering into the downtown area, called “Second Saturdays” which launched that summer. About 6,000 people showed up the first night.

Durband co-founded the Festivals and Events Association of Tucson and Southern Arizona, then spearheaded the effort to get Tucson recognized as a World Festival and Event City in 2017.

He helped out with the Arizona International Film Festival, Film Fest Tucson and many other events people dreamed up for downtown and other parts of Tucson. During the pandemic, Steller wrote, Durband helped restaurants downtown expand into areas that were parking places so they could have outdoor seating.