Surrounded by modernity, with the echoes of buses screeching and the drone of low-flying airplanes overhead, a historical neighborhood relives the past on Saturday.
Fort Lowell Day will evoke the vibrancy of the area’s golden days. Tucson children will run and skip over the same ground where Hohokam children once frolicked in the afternoon sun.
The celebration of the area’s history is an annual event. Though generations removed from the early Mormon aqueducts and Mexican settlers who originally inhabited the village El Fuerte, or, The Fort, and even further removed from the Hohokam dwellings and artifacts still being uncovered, modern day will attempt to mesh with the past.
“It’s a wonderful area for learning the history of the Southwest,” says Janet Marcus with the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association, the group behind the 34-year old event, which synthesizes 1,000 years of history in one day.
“(It) is to make people appreciate the history of the area.”
Several improvements have been made to the historic structures on the property, and there will be entertainment and interactive activities for parents and children, said Marcus. Children can receive a “Passport to History” from information booths and get it stamped at various sites while doing activities throughout the day.
Recent exterior renovations on the Officers Quarters will be on view, and the music will include mariachi bands and western music. There will be vintage baseball games, as well, Marcus says.
This year, the small La Capillita Chapel will be the focus of its own celebration. A noon ceremony will note the blessing for the chapel from Pope Francis.
The La Capillita Shrine was originally constructed in 1915. It became dilapidated under the harsh desert conditions, but neighbors and experts joined forces in 1996 to reconstruct it. According to Marcus, Caren Groesbeck, with the neighborhood association, sought and received the Papal Blessing in celebration of the chapel’s centennial.
One of the key events of the afternoon will be a lecture by local archaeologist Homer Thiel at the San Pedro Chapel. He will also show artifacts found at the site.
“People probably don’t know much about the Hohokam people around here,” Thiel says. “There are a lot of people interested in archaeology in Tucson. First-year people can tour the grounds here and see the artifacts and restoration work.”
