When the Tucson Mountains Association held their first meeting for 1939, the most important order of business was the odor problem emanting from the City Sewage Farm on Silverbell Rd. The group would probably be very pleased to see Silverbell Park, which occupies that once smelly land today.
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1992 Star photo
Windsurfers enjoying Silverbell Lake.
“We believe public opinion is against that odor and it has proved a very definite drawback to development of that area,” one member said. They learned that the city had curtailed odor-abatement expenses and diverted the money to the police pension fund. It was suggested that everyone get arrested and pay their fine to help provide the needed money.
A request was submitted by the city to the WPA to fix the problem, in 1940. Another request was again submitted in 1941. The estimated cost was $134,000. This time the project was given a priority status. Tucson was bracing for a growth spurt because a new army base was to be established here.
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In 1942, it was the Army Corps of Engineers to the rescue. They offered to contribute $160,000 for the expansion of the Tucson sewage disposal plant.
Almost everything was ready to go by August of 1943. Unfortunately, there were two critical elements missing and they were proving hard to obtain. An electric panel board was needed, as well as two large wooden storage tanks.
But, by October the parts had arrived and the new unit went online. The old plant was to be overhauled bringing the facilities capacity to 5,000,000 gallons a day. That was believed to be enough to handle the city’s needs for 20 years.
In 1969, four lakes were planned for Silverbell Park, just west of the Treatment Plant. Construction began on two of them, but then the project stalled. The lakes were to be filled with treated effluent.
It was not until 1974, that the City Council approved the development of the City Sewer Farm into a northwest regional park and golf course.
After years of planning, Silverbell Regional Park opened in August 1980. Only one-fourth of the 346-acre park was ready for opening day. There were two lakes. Silverbell Lake was 20 acres and Archer Lake, for model boats only, was 3 acres.
The water used in the lakes was not effluent. It came from wells, but it was water that did not meet home-use standards.
Note: My apologies, it is totally coincidental that the past two tales have been rather stinky! I’ll try for something better smelling tomorrow. But, remember, I never promised you a rose garden. EYR
Historic bank vault now new Tucson speakeasy