Marana's longtime goal of showcasing its rich history took a significant step forward Friday with the official groundbreaking of the Marana Heritage River Park.
"I'm so pleased that we've finally got this going," said Ora Mae Harn, Marana's historian, who's also a former mayor of the town and the driving force behind the 93-acre park. "We couldn't get this going until the (Town Council) put some money behind it."
Friday's event, which included live music under a covered patio, several food booths and displays of Marana town services and information, was meant to bring attention to a park that the town has been slowly adding to since 2006.
Already in place at the Marana Heritage River Park is a 10-acre working farm, which is operated through a partnership between the Community Food Bank, Marana's parks and recreation department and several other area groups.
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Also up and running is the Heritage House, a small structure that Harn said will eventually serve as the park's visitor center.
"We're trying to tell the history of our community," she said.
Plans call for the park — which lies along the north side of the Santa Cruz River as it passes by the Gladden Farms master-planned community — to include a pair of replicas of buildings that were part of the Producers Cotton Oil Co. gin operation that used to be active in Marana.
Those buildings should be in place by next summer, Parks Director Tom Ellis said.
Ellis said the park's kiddie train, which will loop along the river from near the farm down to the Gladden Farms Community Park, will be ready for riding by September.
