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Re: urgent need for Marco¡¯s photo
Carlos, is the neon sign out front still standing? ?Because I grew up on Marco's pizza and I clearly remember the sign having the same exact script as the sign on the building which is currently the same as it's always been since it became Mario's and that being the "C" on MarCo's being sawed off and becoming an "I". ?The front the building today is virtually unchanged since the Marco's days.
Frank On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 3:28 PM, mistercopacetic@... [vanishingtucson] <vanishingtucson@...> wrote:
Very Best Regards, _______________________________________________________________________
Frank Niprikas I.T. Field Engineer Tucson, Arizona -?
San Diego, California 760-889-6246 - 520-399-8854
_______________________________________________________________________ |
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urgent need for Marco¡¯s photo
Hello All, ? Great news.? Mario¡¯s Pizza on 1st Avenue at Ft. Lowell is restoring their classic neon sign.? In order to do an historically accurate job, they need to know what the sign looked like when it used to be ¡°Marco¡¯s¡± from 1958 to 1978.? I would really appreciate if you check your old photos and see if you have one.? Remember that image of the sign could be in the background, over someone¡¯s shoulder.? Business owners were proud of their signs in the 50s and 60s, so an image might also be found on a Marco¡¯s menu or advertisement. An image of the 22nd St location near Craycroft might also be helpful.? The 1st Ave and 22nd street locations were basically identical. ? If your photos or slides or home movies are in a dusty shoebox, buried in the back of a Tuffshed in your backyard, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll come over and do all the work digging them out and putting everything back again neatly.? As always, I¡¯d be glad to digitize many of your images, free of charge, especially the ones that might be of interest to other VanishingTucson members. Just send me an e-mail, and I¡¯m on my way. ? You may remember that Spring¡¯s Hardware was across the street from Marco¡¯s.? I wish that the person who took this photo in 1974 would have turned around and took a snapshot of Marco¡¯s. Maybe he or she did? ?
? Thanks, ? Carlos ? P.S. as always, please post whatever photos you have, not just Marco¡¯s. |
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Re: Quonset Huts
I remember the boat from years ago. Had a very deep hull. That's probably why you term it a "shrimper" - plenty of room for the catch. Recall that one of my professors at the UA College of Architecture built a ferro-cement boat in the early '70's, a Prof. Chadwick. Don't know if it was the same boat. Chad towed his boat to San Diego where it promptly sank straight to the bottom.
Ken Ethridge, AIA Rincon HS: '66 UA Architecture: '72 |
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Wilmot Plaza
I noticed this morning that demolition has started on some of the buildings in the Wilmot Plaza shopping center on the NE corner of Wilmot and Broadway. Included in the demo are the old Firestone Tire, Sprouse-Reitz and Myerson's Dept stores. The shopping center was built in the mid-50's to serve the rapidly expanding urban area east of town. Our family bought a new tract home in Lusk's San Rafael subdivision just north of the shopping center site in the early 50's when Broadway was 2 lane unpaved from Craycroft east. I remember riding our bikes to the Firestone store to fill our tires. And Sprouse-Reitz was always a place to get rid of that allowance that was burning a hole in our pockets. I also remember? getting outfitted for semi-formal affairs at Myerson's. There was also a coffee shop in the corner next door that we would go to occasionally. All that is part of the demolition. The rest of the shopping center buildings were rehabbed a few years ago and are apparently spared from this round of progress. |
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Re: Quonset Huts
Hi all! About a year ago I called the historian at Davis Monthan to ask about dating the quonsets or getting a manufacturer to see where they might have originated.? From what he knew he said there might be a serial number, but it wouldn't tell us much as they were pieces that were put together on site.? I am checking further into the date of the Country Club quonset now sadly gone.? As for the one behind what once was Mat Bevel studios, I did the demo survey on that one a couple of years ago (as well as the other 6 or 7 buildings included in that, two others are gone - the big block warehouse on 9th behind the old Citizen's Transfer/WAMO art space, which was built in the 1960's by Howard Peck for Citizens Transfer and torn down in Dec. 2013.? The other was on the west side of Stone almost directly across from Mat Bevel, last used as I think an auto repair place)? The one behind Mat Bevel I think was moved there in the late 50's or early 60's.? I wrote up a history for it for the widening so its on record with DOT or SHPO. As for Mat Bevel studios building, anyone have an idea when that is coming down?? One of the other buildings I surveyed for the project was the wonderful building where Small Planet bakery is, across from Benjamin Plumbing (7th and 7th).? I will literally tie myself to that building when they do it.? The original building there burned down and Michael Tophoy, an early builder and correspondence course architect who built the Tophoy Building on 4th, bought the remains and rebuilt it.? That lovely curved wall on the interior was his design.? I see the graffiti on that building and it just tears me up.? If anyone knows a time frame for any of these please share! Catherine |
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Re: Quonset Huts
Hello All, ? I love quonset huts!? Sorry to see another one go.? Alex, thanks for letting us know about this. Yahoo changed the photo settings, but I changed them back so please try again to add your sad before & after photos to the quonset huts photos folder, here... ? ? https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vanishingtucson/photos/albums/1680869624 ? Catherine,
I¡¯m still wondering if there is anything anywhere on the quonset hut that
indicates the manufacturer, or even a military serial number to know if the hut
was military surplus.? That would be good
information to have.? Thanks for all the work you do! ? Another quonset hut is about to be demolished to make way for the unnecessary Downtown Links road project.? It is right behind the beloved ¡°Matt Bevel¡± warehouse on Stone, also about to be bulldozed.? I hope that photographers will capture the beauty of these structures to supplement my plain, documentary photos. ? I¡¯ll post more about Downtown Links demolitions soon. ? Thanks for your interest, ? Carlos ---In vanishingtucson@..., <cfw61@...> wrote : By the way as far as qualifying, not sure what the rule is on quonsets, but the contractor is incorrect if its based only by year.? The quonset has been there since at least 1958 (aerial shot), but from the business listings and people I talked with, at least 10 years before.? I am in the process of writing up a history of it for the SHPO office. Catherine |
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Re: Quonset Huts
By the way as far as qualifying, not sure what the rule is on quonsets, but the contractor is incorrect if its based only by year.? The quonset has been there since at least 1958 (aerial shot), but from the business listings and people I talked with, at least 10 years before.? I am in the process of writing up a history of it for the SHPO office. Catherine |
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Re: Quonset Huts
I took pictures as well.? The history of the quonset that I'm still confirming goes back to at least 1945 when Downey's Speedway Lumber was listed at 1114 N. Country Club (it had the whole corner lot).? It has to be a little earlier as the articles I found were in regards to a robbery that occurred in June.? In the late 50's or early 60's it became just Speedway Lumber, I only found mostly ads.? The car wash took over the property in 1967, which is the date both the county assessor and a private property search website that I have access to has, which is obviously incorrect as I spoke with a woman who works for the car wash who had spoken with a customer who is a lifetime Tucsonan and confirmed that it was there way before it became property of the car wash.? Another woman who was also taking photos also
confirmed it was there before the car wash as she grew up here.? I have not found the opening date of the lumber company, but I am researching it, as well as the original owners.? I will let the group know when I get the information.? Will add my photos as well. Catherine |
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Quonset Huts
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýThe car wash at the NE corner of Speedway and Country Club is tearing down a rather large Quonset hut.? I spoke
with the contractor and he looked into whether or not it had any historical significance and it wasn't old enough to
qualify for any programs.? We talked about how sturdy the design was and he pointed out that the front section had been propped up on what looked to be on-site constructed concrete piers that were in a terrible state of disrepair -
cracked and spalling, they didn't look strong enough to hold themselves upright much less a steel building.? The inner frame of the Quonset hut was so strong, the building was basically self-supporting and wasn't
even using the broken piers.? Of course, the majority of the building was built on a substantial concrete slab.
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There was/is another good sized Quonset hut on Dodge just north of Catalina HS.? It's some kind of steel yard
or fabrication facility.? About 30/40 years ago, somebody was building a ferro-cement boat about the size of a
shrimper.? It was up on the stays for years.? Does anybody remember the concrete boat?
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I took about a dozen photos of the demo site but I can't find a way to create an album and upload the photos.? Has something changed on Yahoo?? I think I've uploaded photos, before.
?
Alex Cook
Southern Arizonan since 1954
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Re: vanishingtucson
From AccessTucson website in 2013 when they were selling the terrazzo tiles Originally it was built for VFW Tucson Post 549, the largest VFW post in Arizona. This chapter was originally chartered as "Joe C. Salazar Post 549" on January 3, 1921 and was the third VFW post chartered in Arizona. Tucson Post 549 moved in to its ¡°new¡± location at 124 E. Broadway on May 30th, 1948.--complete with glossy Terrazzo tiles for the flooring indoors as well as for the front sidewalk.? Catherine |
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Re: vanishingtucson
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýIt was in fact a VFW. We frequented the teen night dances there in the mid '50s. The band was of course Dean Armstrong. Bill Ahrens W. A. Ahrens & Associates On Apr 24, 2014, at 9:19 PM, <n7iqv@...> wrote:
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Re: vanishingtucson
Carlos,
124 E Broadway was some sort of "meeting hall" as I recall. Not sure about VFW, but perhaps another "fraternal" group. I'm thinking it was much like the former Odd Fellows Hall at 135 S 6th, just around the corner, which had the dance hall upstairs on the second floor. John |
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Re: vanishingtucson
Hello All, ? Thanks to David for the topic. ?This issue is no more ¡°political¡± than any other preservation issue. ? There are 3 factors that make this story especially relevant to VanishingTucson. ? First, this is a perfect example of how the modern streetcar is inflating property values along its route, and in turn, forcing out most of the existing tenants. ?This will radically change the character of the area.? The existing ambiance and charm will, in effect, ¡°vanish¡±, and be replaced with an imitation of Tempe or Scottsdale.? Hopefully, Urban Overlay District incentives will prevent some of the historic buildings from being torn down, but we¡¯ll have to wait and see about that. ? Secondly, local television in general, and local cable in particular are both great examples of ¡°VanishingTucson¡±. ?Cable access peaked in the 1980s, like the drive-in movie theaters peaked in the 1950¡¯s.? Both still remain to serve a smaller, but significant segment of the population.? Like any dwindling resource, they need to be nurtured and appreciated in context. ?I remember watching all sorts of people expressing themselves on cable access in the 80¡¯s, long before the internet.? Community Access Cable was the video version of Community Radio, like KXCI.? In large markets like L.A. or New York City, cable access had massive viewership numbers and helped launch the careers of many musicians, film makers, broadcasters, and performing artists. ? As I understand it, community cable is funded by the cable company (not the City), essentially in exchange for being allowed to operate as a monopoly.? Therefore, I¡¯m not really sure why we need to beg the City to allow it to remain? Anyway, here are the Mayor and Council e-mail addresses. ??Do it right now, it will only take a minute: ? mayor1@..., ward1@..., ward2@..., ward3@..., ward4@..., Richard.Fimbres@..., ward6@... ? The 3rd factor that makes this topic ¡°VanishingTucsonworthy¡± is that I¡¯ve actually thought about doing a VanishingTucson show on cable access. ?If anyone might potentially be interested in helping out, please contact me privately, off-board. ? Finally, in the true spirit of this site, if anyone cares to share their memories of early cable access, please do.? How about earlier memories of the great old building at 124 E. Broadway? Wasn¡¯t it a VFW Post? ?I¡¯ll look for old photos to post. If you find old video, you can post it on the VanishingTucson Youtube page. ? Thanks, ? Carlos ? |
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tucson access
hello
i know this is probably not supposed to be a political arena but i am hoping the good folks of tucson and vanishing tucson will step up to right a wrong. the tucson city council and mayor are talking about stopping ALL funding for access tucson AND selling off their historic building? in downtown tucson. this may already be a done deal but it will definitely be decided in the next few weeks!. this is a travesty for the arts and for freedom and for tucson.! the only way to possibly stop this from happening is to contact every council member and the mayor and let them know this should not even be considered. they already cut the funding from $300,000 to $100,000 and now want to stop ALL funding. there are only 4 paid staff members running the whole station and rely on many many volunteers. even if you never watch the channel, you should still be outraged that this is being considered and questioning why this is being done. these volunteers are the ones filming the council sessions and showing up and asking the hard questions of our elected officials. i think this has to do with their talk of "transparency" and who really runs tucson and how they dont want to be asked questions or filmed at council meetings by access tucson volunteers. you can find all their emails at tucsonaz.gov/citygov otherwise, the next set of emails coming from vanishing tucson will be "remember that beautiful building on broadway in downtown that used to be where access tucson and many other memories were at?" thanks david bushey producer of the bushyreport on access tucson. . |
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Santa rita hotel
Hello all! While doing some research on a contractor from Los Angeles, I came across a list of the buildings he was the contractor for including a little hotel in Tucson called the Santa Rita.? This was in the early 1900's so I'm pretty sure it would have to be the original part of the building, and the first part to come down, in 1906.? His name was John V. McNeil, owner and operator of J. V. McNeil Construction in Los Angeles.? It fits with the fact that so many of our early buildings were being designed by California architects at that time (of course, Henry Trost did the first Santa Rita building, Curlett and Son did the 1917
addition).? This gentleman did some wonderful buildings, both in California and the southwest, including a library for Loyola Marymount and a theatre in the Masonic Temple in Los Angeles, in use until the mid 1990. Just thought I'd share a little tidbit of Tucson's history! Catherine |