A nonprofit dedicated to bringing a Spanish-colonial garden back to life at the base of "A" Mountain was given the go-ahead by the Tucson City Council Monday.
The Friends of Tucson's Birthplace, which will have a five-year management agreement, plans to start bringing back the walled Mission Gardens site by planting 130 heirloom fruit trees, including fig, quince, pomegranate and apricot, in one quadrant of the property. The gardens were part of the historic San Agustín Mission.
Over time, the group plans to add crops in other areas, possibly a small grape vineyard and a "timeline garden" that would trace 4,000 years of agriculture, including early Hohokam and Tohono O'odham gardens, up to the Mexican and territorial eras.
The gardens are on a site purchased by Pima County using 1997 bond funds designed for historic sites and open space. The Pima County Board of Supervisors is expected to pass a similar operational agreement today.
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The sticking point to date has centered around litigation rumblings by the Rio Nuevo Board, which put money into the site until the Legislature redrew the uses for the tax dollars that fund the downtown redevelopment project, saying the money must be spent on a new convention hotel or the Tucson Convention Center. Attorneys for the board have objected to the deal, saying the board may have an ownership interest in the property.
Rio Nuevo's chairwoman, Jodi Bain, said the board remains interested in negotiating with the nonprofit, but she's unhappy that the city would proceed with the agreement, even as the two entities are poised to embark on a round of mediation next week to try to head off litigation over which properties each owns.
"I'm of the opinion that all of this can, and has to be, worked out," Bain said. "I just think it's inconsiderate to move ahead, given what we're trying to accomplish here and given the need to protect the integrity of what we're doing."
The nonprofit has raised more than $106,000, including nearly $60,000 in grant funding, to pay for the first round of planting. The grants, however, expire in the spring. If the trees aren't in the ground by then, the money must be returned. And they can't put the trees and drip irrigation in unless the site is legally accessible.
Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield@azstarnet.com or 573-4243.
