Casa Blanca Plaza’s copper dome has a storied past.
The dome dates back to El Conquistador Hotel, which opened on East Broadway in 1928 and was demolished 40 years later.
Tucson’s first shopping mall — El Con — opened adjacent to the posh hotel in 1960 and built a new Levy’s department store on the former hotel site soon after it was razed.
Developer George N. Genematas put in a bid to buy the copper dome, and family photos from Oct. 2, 1968 show a crane placing the dome of the hotel’s old porte-cochere on a City Van & Storage flatbed truck.
The dome was hauled to Casa Blanca Plaza, which was developed by Genematas in the late 1960s and today is still owned and operated by his children.
Genematas, an early developer of the northwest side, died in 2010.
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A family photo dated Jan. 17, 1969 shows the copper dome being installed at Casa Blanca Plaza, at North Oracle and West Rudasill roads.
Nick G. Genematas doesn’t know what his father paid for the dome, but his family is aware of its prominent history.
“I’m proud to say this is a definite part of Tucson’s past,” he said.
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