[Source: C.T. Revere, Tucson Citizen] -- This historic ground was just another paved lot for parking cars only a month ago. Today, the dusty parcel southwest of Church Avenue and Washington Street is a window to thousands of years of local human history and a glimpse into downtown Tucson's future.
While state lawmakers wrangle over future funding for Rio Nuevo and city officials tool and retool the notion of what they mean by "downtown redevelopment," Homer Thiel and his team are getting to the point. "People don't realize that among the buildings and streets in downtown Tucson, there are thousands of years of history," said Thiel, the bearded and bespectacled archaeologist whose job is to protect that history before the city builds a park to honor it.
The lot, nestled in the winter shadow of the Transamerica Building, will eventually house one of the first historical attractions in Rio Nuevo - the Presidio Historical Park. In concert with the Convento project near "A" Mountain and museums to be operated by the Arizona State Museum and The Arizona Historical Society, this project represents the most vital element of redevelopment - preserving and honoring our past. Plans for sunken highways, ornate bridges and sports venues are likely to come and go at the whim of a few or of the many.
The one thing we have is our past. There's enough of it being rekindled already to start breathing new life into the city's core. "This is a community that really values its heritage," said Marty McCune, the city's historic preservation officer. "There is so much depth of history here, incredible layers of history, even at the middle of downtown, where you'd think it would be gone."
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