The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Now is the time to take a closer look at the Campus Agriculture Center. Historically the Campus Farm at Campbell Avenue and Roger Road: The unmarred vista of the Catalina Mountains, irrigated fields, sheep and horses grazing, and buildings that have stood for a century define this historic landscape.
Agriculture changed human history of the world 12,000 years ago, 4,000 years ago here along the floodplains of the Rillito and Santa Cruz Rivers; more than a century ago it changed Tucson with the establishment of the University of Arizona as a land grant institution.
On Aug. 10, the City Council will consider beginning the final steps to designate this farm as a historic landmark.
There are currently 14 city historic landmarks that were identified as the highest of historic significance and define the character and history of Tucson. If demolished or significantly altered, it would be an irreplaceable loss for the entire community. The Campus Agriculture Center meets and exceeds these criteria. This century-old farm continues the original mission of teaching, research and extension for the College of Agriculture, Tucson and the state of Arizona.
The University of Arizona purchased Jesus Garcia’s 80-acre farm in 1909. The farm is the embodiment of the founding of the university as a land grant institution in 1885 under the 1862 Morrill Act. This Act provided each state 30,000 acres of federal land for each member of their Congressional Delegation that could be sold to fund public colleges focused on agriculture and mechanical arts. Later, extensions of Congressional legislation in the form of the Hatch Act in 1887 provided funds for agricultural experiment stations. The Smith-Lever Act in 1914 provided funds for cooperative extension programs. All these funding sources were essential to the establishment and growth of the university.
The historic landscape begins at the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Roger Road with the northwest corner featuring a residence/workman’s cottage, constructed in 1910. The northeast corner residence was part of the Ewing Dairy Farm acreage, acquired by the university in 1953. This side of the farm features greenhouses that began in the 1960s and continue this vision of agriculture into the 21st century. The buildings to the north and west of Campbell Avenue feature curving roof parapets of Mission Revival style architecture from 1913 till the 1930s.
Farther west, cultivated fields extending to Mountain Avenue complete the landscape with crops that change throughout the year; other areas are filled with horses, cattle and sheep. All of this is typical for a farm but not in the middle of a city and not for more than a century that today is the most intact historic landscape in all of Tucson.
Recently, the University of Arizona was quoted in the Star that there were no plans to sell the farm. This is wonderful. Now is the time for the university to realize that the Tucson community values this community asset, and the landmark designation communicates this. The now 140-acre farm can continue as it has with the landmark recognition.
If the farm or portions of it are ever sold, the historic landmark zoning allows community oversight. All proposed changes and alterations are reviewed in a public meeting held by the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission Plans Review Subcommittee. Recommendations then go to the city’s director of Planning and Development for approval. The university is a state agency that needs to follow the preservation guidelines of the State of Arizona Historic Preservation Office.
Just recently, I stopped to gaze from Roger Road and Mountain Avenue at the beautiful clouds forming over the Catalina Mountains and farm animals grazing in the foreground and to think about the timelessness of agriculture. The time is now to tell the mayor and council that you support the historic landmark designation for the Campus Agriculture Center.
