The Sixth Avenue underpass downtown is now the βDonovan Durband Sixth Avenue Underpassβ to honor a long-time parking administrator in Tucson who had a hand in several downtown improvements.
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 Tucsonβs Department of Transportation and Mobility. The artwork installation will follow.
The memorial plaque unveiling and naming ceremony will be held in March, Frazelle said.
The sixth Avenue underpass will be renamed for Donovan Durband, who had a role on several downtown improvement efforts before he died unexpectedly last year.
Erin Durband, Donovanβs widow, requested the commemorative renaming of the underpass in a June email to transportation department director Sam Credio, because βIf anyone knew the importance of making connections, it was Donovan.β
During Tuesday nightβs city council meeting, Erin Donovan said she βinstantly knewβ the underpass project was the right answer to honor her late husband.
βYou see, it wouldβve 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,β she said. βDonovan 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.β
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.
βDonovan and I have been friends since the late β90s. We worked together in downtown revitalization when he was the assistant director for the Tucson Downtown Alliance,β Farley said. βWe both shared this passion, interest in wanting to bring downtown back and make it more vital and have it based in history.β
βWhen 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,β Farley said. βShe and (former city councilman) Steve Kozachik contacted me about this idea, and immediately I wanted to do something to honor him.β
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 Durbandβs βgreatβ collection.
βThe postcards will be on two foot by three foot baked porcelain enamel panels,β Farley said. βAnd one of the panels will have a picture of Donovan, with a little very brief biography on it, so people know what itβs about.β
The idea of the underpass was pitched, Farley said, because Durband and his wife βwere always very passionate about that underpass and doing something to make it better.β
Durband took over as executive director of the Tucson Downtown Alliance in May 1999, then in 2009 he joined former council member Steve Kozachikβs staff. He went to Park Tucson a few years later, but as Star columnist Tim Steller wrote shortly after Durbandβs 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 βSecond Saturdaysβ 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.
