City OKs $54M to re-create its roots

In addition to re-creating the San Agustín Mission, including the convento and Mission Gardens, the council unanimously agreed to study the infrastructure needs of Downtown and the West Side, and for staffers to return with a breakdown of how much Rio Nuevo money should go to the private versus the public sector.

That is a far cry from what Councilmen Jose Ibarra and Steve Leal advocated — Leal wanted a list of all the projects and their costs drawn up and Ibarra wanted the council to begin voting on what projects council members supported.

Ibarra pushed for the city to come up with a formula by January for how the money will be spent, have a council meeting in January specifically designated to discuss Rio Nuevo, have economic reports and modeling done by February and have a report on infrastructure by March.

Ibarra said the public has gotten "tired and frustrated" with Rio Nuevo. But ultimately, there was not support from the council for his proposal.

When asked about the merits of the economic modeling and creating a list of projects for funding, City Manager Mike Hein responded, "I can do whatever four votes tell me to do. The question is whether it's meaningful."

Hein said he could furnish a list of projects today, but the city has to "avoid the fools' rush in of first-come, first-served."

After more than an hour of debate, the council unanimously, with Councilwoman Carol West absent, endorsed a plan by Councilwoman Shirley Scott, to request a study of Rio Nuevo infrastructure needs and to determine if Rio Nuevo money is being balanced well between public and private interests

Ibarra voted for the scaled-back motion, saying after the meeting that "a small action was better than no action."

"I realized the votes were not there," Ibarra said. "I don't believe that 'stay the course' is enough. The public wants more."

Hein said the public needs to be patient with Rio Nuevo because the city received an extension of the Rio Nuevo district from the Legislature only in June. The extension, expected to generate $550 million in today's dollars, will give the city nearly five times the money it had previously.

The city manager said the community has come a long way in just a few years — noting that business interests used to selfishly fight for just their own slice of Rio Nuevo money, but now the business community seems believe to believe in the common good that everyone's success will benefit everyone.

Councilwoman Nina Trasoff said the city has made great strides with Rio Nuevo in the past year, rattling off projects she said have been advanced in the past year. She said next year people will see three or four construction cranes Downtown, which will show the redevelopment district's progress.

As for the $54 million to fund Tucson Origins on the West Side, all council members praised that project.

Nearly half the money — $22 million — will go toward re-creating what once stood there: an archaeological site with pit houses from an ancestral Hohokam village, the Carrillo House and features of the San Agustín Mission. The mission's chapel and convento, built by Spaniards in 1772, were the first buildings in modern Tucson, and the two-story adobe convento was used by visiting priests and as a school for the Indians who had inhabited the region for centuries.

The rest of the money will go for site work and utilities, landfill remediation, the extension of Cushing Street westward with a bridge over the Santa Cruz River, roadways within the cultural plaza and design and construction management.

Early construction activities are expected to start in May, and are scheduled to be completed sometime in 2009, city staffers said.

Read past Star articles on the Rio Nuevo project at azstarnet.com/sn/rionuevo