Mt. Lemmon center opens after setbacks

Now it just needs to finish growing its community back.

The Community Center, which opened its visitors center for the first full weekend Friday, was planned well before the Aspen Fire burned down three-quarters of the community's homes in June of 2003 and reduced the number of full-time residents to a handful.

The permanent mountain population, always sparse, has clawed back over the past couple years and was estimated by the postmaster this winter at 60.

But Summerhaven residents have different measurements of its size.

Ginny Durham, who helped staff the visitors center Friday, measures it by the regular shared meals in her mini-neighborhood of four rebuilt homes on a burned hillside.

LuAnn Waldron judges it by the perseverance of the Women's Club she heads and whose 80 members continue to get together for weekly events and to make community contributions. They make up the core of center volunteers and recently teamed up with Trees for Mount Lemmon to purchase the tables and chairs for the center's meeting room.

Her husband, Larry Waldron, who is overseeing the formation of a nonprofit organization to run the center, said the dearth of residents would be a problem if volunteers needed to staff the visitors center on winter weekdays. But the population surges on summer weekends with folks like himself paring back work duties down in the valley to spend more time in the cooler climes.

And Pima County, which spent $4 million in bond and community-reinvestment money to build the $1.2 million center and redo roads, bridges and parking in the village, doesn't regard it as a community center for just the residents — but one available to over a million residents of Pima County, many of whom make their way to the top of Mount Lemmon on a regular basis.

The building, with a metal roof in multiple peaks, varnished pine ceilings, window walls and gray rock veneer, was meant to invoke its mountain surroundings, said architect Phil Swaim.

But it's unfinished, he said.

"The building is almost a shell at this point," he said.

"We need maps and information about the environment and trails and all sorts of things," Swaim said.

For now, volunteers will staff the visitors center on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There are no interpretive exhibits yet and few brochures and books, but the volunteers make up for that with years of mountain knowledge.

Seth and Autumn Clark dropped in Friday to consult with volunteers Durham and Joyce Anderson on hiking trails. With his brother and sister visiting from South Carolina, Clark said he decided to beat the heat with a weekend camping trip. "I've camped up here before but I've never tried any of the trails," he said.

The volunteers were ready with copies of a trail map.

Last Sunday, when the center opened for a trial run, about 500 people came through, Larry Waldron said. Some just used the restrooms but others had plenty of questions.

Eventually the center will host a variety of exhibits and activities, including computer terminals that will allow the mountain's visitors to find trails and other information on the forest, said Lacey Gould, recreation program coordinator with Pima County's Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department.

Waldron said he hopes to involve the U.S. Forest Service, whose Coronado National Forest surrounds the tiny enclave, in interpreting the natural history of the area. He said representatives of other area groups, such as the Audubon Society, are also interested in providing exhibits and brochures.

The first step for the Summerhaven crew is to form a nonprofit group that could accept donations and recruit members and volunteers in the effort. The county would like the group to take over running the center and will provide one half-time staffer to coordinate with the volunteers, said Gould.

It may seem odd to create a community center for 60 permanent residents, even if that number is destined to grow as the mountain continues its post-fire reconstruction boom. But serving the tiny community has never been the only goal, said County Supervisor Ray Carroll, who represents the area. "It's for the visitors to the area who want to see the jewel in Pima County's crown," he said.

Studies conducted before the fire pegged the number of visitor trips to the mountain at 1.5 million a year.

The goal, said Larry Waldron, "is to create a social and also an educational environment, not only for the people on the mountain but for the visitors who come up."

The meeting rooms, which accommodate up to 120 people at tables or 180 in lecture mode, will be available for rent by groups, businesses and individuals, Waldron said.

It is not set up for cooking, but a restaurant/condo complex being designed just south of it will be connected by bridge for ease of catering, Swaim said.

IF YOU GO

The visitors center at the new Summerhaven Community Center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Restrooms are open daily from dawn to dusk.

Summerhaven is at the north end of Catalina Highway. The center is on the right as you enter the village, across the street from the Mount Lemmon Cafe (the Pie Place).