The January 8th Memorial and the Southern Arizona Heritage and Visitor Center are now open at the historic Pima County Courthouse downtown.
County officials made the announcement on Tuesday, though both attractions quietly began welcoming visitors last week for the first time in the pandemic.
The outdoor memorial to the Jan. 8, 2011, mass shooting in Tucson was completed and dedicated early this year but had yet to open to the public. The Heritage and Visitor Center opened its doors for the first time in January 2020, only to be closed about six weeks later because of the pandemic.
“As you can imagine, after being closed for more than a year, we’ve had to replace some staff and volunteers who were a big part of our operation,” said Diane Frisch, director of attractions and tourism for Pima County. “We’re just getting back up and running.”
For now, the visitor center is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays. The hours will expand to seven days a week once the facility has a full complement of staff members and volunteers.
The gates to the January 8th Memorial on the west side of the courthouse are now open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
“The Embrace,” as it is known, features almost an acre of gardens surrounding a pair of reflecting pools and curved steel walls etched with symbols honoring those killed and wounded in the mass shooting, as well as the community’s response to the tragedy.
It was conceived and developed by the nonprofit January 8th Foundation on land provided by the county, which now maintains the memorial.
The visitor center next door features displays and interactive exhibits designed to help tourists and locals alike explore Southern Arizona. In addition to information about arts, culture, food, innovations, attractions and wildlife, the center houses a gift shop with official merchandise for the Chuck Huckelberry Loop, Tucson’s almost 140-mile-long multiuse recreational trail network.
Before it became a tourist destination, the 92-year-old courthouse was home to a number of local government offices, including the Sheriff’s Department, the School Superintendent’s Office, Superior Court and most recently the Consolidated Justice Court, Assessor, Recorder and Treasurer’s offices.
The Spanish Colonial Revival-style building at 115 N. Church Ave. was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and its iconic dome serves as the official logo for Pima County.
Future attractions at the courthouse include a John Dillinger exhibit inside the courtroom where the notorious gangster was arraigned in 1934; and the University of Arizona’s Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum, which is slated to open for limited timed tours sometime this summer.
More information about the Southern Arizona Heritage and Visitor Center — including volunteer opportunities — is available online at visitsouthernarizona.com.
