The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
In an old central Tucson park, atop a hill shaded by a stand of giant Aleppos and cooled by a little waterfall, a grandfather and his grandson escape the summer heat. For hours they launch little boats into a stream, then follow them downhill to the natural shoreline of a pond teeming with frogs, shorebirds, ducks and other families keeping cool.
Thousands of Tucsonans, north and south of 22nd Street, east and west of Alvernon, will immediately recognize this place as Barnum Hill and the south duck pond in the heart of Reid Park.
They will know it because it’s a place they love — because they’ve walked there for years or sailed their own stick boats; because they’ve held family reunions and birthday parties there; because they’ve birded there, or sought solace when city life got too crazy.
It’s a place where their kids always beg to go, or where they got engaged, or where they took their baby to see her first duck. Because for 50 years this beautiful 3.5 acres of public space has been a meeting ground for Tucsonans from all walks of life, who over and over have voted it the best park in town!
So imagine the shock and grief when it was accidentally discovered last November — not from media or government but from a fellow parkgoer — that by next spring, the shady pines would be felled, the hill razed and the pond reduced for a zoo expansion.
Residents began to meet and talk. How could this happen without anyone knowing in advance? When citizens contacted the mayor and City Council, they were told that there had been many public meetings, that Props. 202 and 203 had passed, and now this parkland would become zoo habitat for tigers and other exotic animals. And what about habitat for human beings? Sorry. Done deal.
By January, more than 22,000 Tucsonans had signed a petition opposing the “taking” of Barnum Hill and the pond. No doubt many of them voted for the propositions to fund “improvements, maintenance, and operations for the zoo.” But if the publicity and ballot language had included a plan to take the heart of the park, many of those voters would’ve said, “no” (Prop 203 only passed by 633 votes.).
Public records show that community outreach — with the exception of a bond and Zoo Master Plan Open House in November 2019 — was conducted by the zoo, reaching out not to parkgoers or neighborhood groups, but to its own stakeholders.
Before the bulldozers start rolling, the mayor and council must explain to the community what public process they followed to radically alter Reid Park’s master plan. If the city cannot prove that it reached out to park stakeholders (as they did for Sentinel Peak Park), the current zoo expansion must be put on hold while other options are considered.
Surely, our great city can improve zoo habitat without taking parkland from human beings and wildlife that have been using it since 1925.
If you agree this precious public space is worth fighting for, please check out www.savetheheartofreidpark.org, and let city officials know that you support a more public process.
After a recent visit to Barnum Hill, local historian and architect Bob Vint summed up the crux of the matter:
“I took my grandson and he floated boats down the stream. … There were people everywhere … walking their dogs … doing photo shoots for weddings. … If you take this 3.5 acres, enclose it within the zoo boundary, and charge people admission, you’ve … taken away something from the public sphere. And it would be a real shame to lose it.”
