Deteriorating adobe barn adorns golf course
Adobe buildings aren't your typical golf hazards.
An adobe structure sits near the fifth tee box at Silverbell Golf Course and isn't so much of an obstacle as it is a curiosity that golfers muse over.
Golfer Frank Salbego and his golf buddies were at their wits' end trying to figure out why the building is part of the golf course's landscape.
"It's quite unique," Salbego said of the building.
The structure is an adobe barn with four crumbling walls and no roof. It's what's left of an old cotton farm, said Mike Hayes, deputy parks director for the city of Tucson.
The course, on Silverbell Road, north of Ironwood Hill Drive, is operated by the city and was dedicated in 1979 and renovated in 2005 because part of it was built on a city landfill and the greens were sinking, Hayes said.
Hayes, who is director of Tucson City Golf, never thought to demolish the barn during renovations because he found its presence interesting.
"It's just an old barn. It's deteriorated," he said. "It's still something different out there in the middle of a golf course."
Hayes checked to see if the structure could be designated a historical landmark, but it didn't meet requirements, he said.
Still, the adobe barn is there to stay.
