A corner near Michael Perry Park should soon be transformed from a vacant plot dotted with creosote bushes into a new East Side memorial park where families can go to remember children who have died.
In addition to the new Michael Perry Children's Memorial Park, the land is also to become home to an adjoining commemorative tree park. Both projects are part of the city of Tucson's Back to Basics program and are among several improvements and changes scheduled to begin on the East Side within the next fiscal year.
"We need it. Our town is getting so big,'' said Holly Robles, senior advocate with Pima County's chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD, Homicide Survivors and the support group Compassionate Friends often utilize the city's existing Children's Memorial Park near West River and North Oracle roads.
"I'm really excited about it, to think that they're going to do another one where we can have a memorial wall on the East Side."
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Michael Perry Park, at 8700 E. Arbor Street, along the Pantano Wash south of Golf Links Road, is named for a 12-year-old Tucson boy who was murdered in 1984. William A. Castañeda lured Michael and a 12-year-old companion away from a Downtown chess tournament, sexually molested them and stabbed Michael to death in the desert.
Castañeda was convicted and sentenced to death, but died of liver failure in 1988.
The new East Side tree park will provide more people the chance to purchase trees in someone's honor, said Joan Lionetti, executive director of Tucson Clean and Beautiful, a non-profit organization that oversees the South Side's El Paseo de los Arboles, as well as the North Side's Children's Memorial Park.
Trees are often purchased as as a tribute to someone who has died, to honor a friendship or love, or to offer congratulations on a marriage or birth.
The city's first tree park, which sits along a one-mile stretch on the Santa Cruz River between Irvington Road and Ajo Way, is already full, Lionetti said. People have purchased more than 600 mesquite, palo verde, acacia and desert willow trees since the park opened in 1996.
There is currently a waiting list of about 250 people interested in buying commemorative trees, she said.
Shirley Scott, council member for the East Side's Ward 4, said she hopes there is enough funding available through Back to Basics and private donations to develop the two parks at the same time.
Scott said she has wanted an East Side memorial park since she took office 10 years ago. "Families who want a place to go to remember children who have died shouldn't have to drive across town,'' she said.
Bill Walton is an East Side resident whose son, Joe, was killed in September 2004 by a hit-and-run driver while walking home from a grocery store with his fiance and their infant son.
An East Side memorial park is a "fantastic idea," Walton said, since it's a long drive to visit the one on the North Side with any regularity.
Construction should begin within the next year and no later than in early 2007, said Steve Anderson, principal planner for Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation.
The theme of the two new parks will include historic petroglyphs and, like the North Side memorial park, there will be a wall on which the names of deceased children will be engraved, he said.
"Of course, we'd prefer not having to open another park such as this," said Lionetti, who said the opening of the first memorial park in the late 1980s was "very, very emotional."
The cost to have a child's name added to the wall runs about $3 per letter, while the cost of planting a tree is roughly $200, Lionetti said.
Eight new projects get Back to Basics funding
● Ward 4 Back to Basics projects for the 2006-2007 fiscal year:
"Ease the Heat"
Allocation: $50,000
Description: Installation of coolers in the homes of Ward 4 residents who cannot afford to have a new cooler installed. The estimated cost per cooler is $500, and up to 100 families could be helped.
Children's Performance Center at Clements
Allocation: $150,000
Description: A performance center for children at the William Clements Neighborhood Center at 8123 E. Poinciana Drive in Lincoln Park. Ward 4 plans to supplement the project with private donations.
Stella Bonanza Medians Landscape Project, Phase II
Allocation: The project received $100,000 in early 2005 and the second phase will add $20,000 for the project.
Description: The funds are for additional plants in the neighborhood's medians.
Stella Bonanza Medians to Pantano Trails
Allocation: $15,000
Description: This funding will be used to extend pedestrian paths along the east bank of Pantano Wash as part of the Pantano Park project south from Michael Perry Park, 8700 E. Arbor St. The paths will connect with the new Pantano Park path to be built in 2006.
"Slow & Safe"
Allocation: $50,000
Description: Provide neighborhood residents with the chance to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries in neighborhoods due to auto accidents and speeding. The first phase will involve residents living near South Langley Avenue and East David Drive.
Michael Perry Children's Memorial Park
Allocation: $50,000
Description: Design and seed money to be used for the construction of a new East Side children's memorial park. Donations are also being sought from the private sector.
Ward 4 Family Picnic Areas
Allocation: $100,000
Description: New picnic areas at the Atturbury Bird and Animal Sanctuary, 8280 E. Escalante Road.
Purple Heart Park Little League Baseball Field
Allocation: $100,000
Description: Another Little League field at Purple Heart Park, 10050 E. Rita Road.
