If you've seen the news, El Parador Restaurant at Broadway and Treat is closing after 40 some years. Since they had a little history about the restaurant, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about the building itself.
Go back in the Tucson Time Machine to March, 1946....
Walter Hartwig, Tucson interior decorator, will open an upscale shopping plaza at the southwest corner of Broadway and Treat. Designed by architect W. H. Carr, in cooperation with Mr. Hartwig (the paper said Cahn, but my research only showed a W. H. Carr), Country Club Plaza will feature a dress shop, beauty shop, children's shop, epicurean and candy shop, and a woman's shoe shop. It will be of modern style with a classical influence, white painted brick and projecting canopies, to protect the windows and the window shoppers from the sun.
M. M. Sundt won the construction contract and broke ground early last week. The center is laid out so that all shops face a flagstone patio. At present, two units will be constructed and each will house 5 shops. A third unit at the rear, forming a U-shaped building, will be added at a later date.
A feature of the new shopping center will be a landscaped and paved parking area directly in front of the buildings which will provide space for 24 cars, thus eliminating congestion on Broadway.
Completion of the new center is scheduled for mid-August or early September.
(Excerpt from Arizona Daily Star, March 10, 1946)
Sure hope that even with the drippy roof and any other construction issues, this building won't see the wrecking ball as so many other landmarks have. I'm going to keep my eye on it.
Catherine
