Tuesday, July 04, 2006

1930s Tucson apartment building, tenants' morale due for boost

[Source: Larry Copenhaver, Tucson Citizen] -- John Cashin, 52, plans to plant a flower garden in the tiny dirt plot outside his home run by the Primavera Foundation at the once famed intersection known as The Gateway to Tucson. But that won't happen for a while. The exterior of his home, and the other 11 apartments in the historic Alamo Apartments, 738 S. Sixth Ave., will be renovated this fall thanks to a $98,600 Heritage Fund grant awarded by Arizona State Parks, plus $60,000 in grants from the federal Community Development Block Grant and NeighborWorks@America.

The Heritage Fund, created in 1990, allows the Arizona State Parks Department, as well as the Arizona Game & Fish Department, to distribute funds derived from lottery money for local and regional parks, wilderness trail development, historic preservation and other projects. The Alamo project addresses health and safety issues, building stabilization and aesthetics, said Denise Taub, property director for Primavera. That includes replacing rickety wooden fire escapes with steel structures, fixing cracks in the brick support walls and repairing the stucco exterior.

[Note: To read the full article, click here. Photo source: Norma Jean Gargasz, Tucson Citizen]