cranes of change

When I got out of my car at the garage I noticed the two cranes in my view. That is an encouraging sight. (It wasn't where the Sheraton is to be built.) There is an apartment building being finished as well as the renovation of the MacArthur building being started. The east end of Downtown is getting quite a facelift. I was reading yesterday that the 4th Avenue underpass is set to be complete later this year. Reopening that thoroughfare will be excellent!
I opened my email this morning to a message from the Downtown city council representative, Regina Romero. Here I will pass along two events included in her newsletter:

POETRY READING
Tuesday, Feb. 3, 6:30 p.m.
Historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot on Toole Avenue
Poet Richard Tavenner performs American artist Maynard Dixon’s poetry
Performance is FREE and open to the public
The Tucson Museum of Art, the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum,
and Maynard’s Market and Kitchen co-present Richard Tavenner performing
poetry written by celebrated western artist Maynard Dixon.
Richard Tavenner poet and founder/director of the now statewide Annual High School Poetry Contest and participant in the Tucson Poetry Festival has spent the last twenty years performing his personal brand of poetry at different venues in Tucson. Tavenner is currently working on completing a book of poetry illustrated by his daughter and a companion CD recording of his performances.
Maynard Dixon (1875-1946) an American artist was commissioned by the Southern Pacific Railroad to illustrate southwest railroad travel. In 1907 he painted four lunette-shaped canvases depicting southwest scenes for Tucson’s new train depot. Dixon produced the paintings in San Francisco and traveled to Tucson to installation the lunettes which adorned the walls
of the depot for years. The City of Tucson purchased the former Southern Pacific Railroad Depot downtown and carefully restored the main depot buildings to their 1941 architectural style. Giclee reproductions of Dixon’s lunettes are now mounted in the waiting room of the Historic
Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.
For Maynard Dixon event information contact, the Tucson Museum of Art at www.tucsonmuseumofart.org/exhibitions or call 520.624.2333. For the 129th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Rail Road in Tucson event information contact, Southern Arizona Transportation Museum www.tucsonhistoricdepot.org or call 520.623.2223. For Maynard’s Market and Kitchen events information, contact www.maynardsmarkettucson.com or call 520-545-0577.


DINNER AND A MOVIE @ the Fox
Dine with us Downtown and enjoy discount movie tickets at the beautiful Fox Theatre. In February and March the Fox will be featuring movie musicals. For any of these if you bring your, day of show, Downtown restaurant receipt you will receive a $2 movie ticket discount for
your entire party. Tickets are normally $8 and $6 for seniors, students, and active military.

The current lineup is below:

Feb 13, 8pm Phantom of the Opera
Feb 14, 6 & 9pm West Side Story
Feb 15, 8pm Singing in the Rain
March 13, 8pm Rocky Horror Picture Show
March 14, 6 & 8:30pm Chicago

See ‘em again on the big screen amidst the opulence of Tucson’s
downtown movie palace.

In the heart of the city

This business has been locally owned and operated in downtown Tucson since 1945.
Lots of things have changed in that time. Not just in the world at large, but downtown. This is the last remaining jewelry store here. In fact, it's one of a very few shops. We are not really in the little bit of a shopping district there is. This is the financial district, we are surrounded by banks and government offices.
But, none of that is too interesting. Last night at a Local First meeting I heard someone bemoan the fact that Sheraton is building a hotel next to the Convention Center. That's a corporate hotel that will change the face and feel of downtown, presumably for the worse. I realized when this comment was made that a Walmart could be built downtown and lots of people would be happy. That says a lot about the state of annoyance and frustration over the lack of progress on the downtown revitalization track, sadly.
Tucson has always had great civic pride, but something else has taken over the downtown area. Or, more accurately, something has left the downtown area: commerce. Blame city politics or urban sprawl or archaic building codes or rich out of town building owners. Or Pima County.
None of that matters much. Where we go from here is the important thing. Yet, we need to know what we are fighting. Other than public perception. That's changeble. What's happening behind the scenes? Who's in charge here that is getting in the way of small business start ups and success?
All I can do is this. Talk and keep the doors open and support other local businesses. And pray.
-Deanna, employee