2012 Most Endangered Historic

Places

Introduction

• The Arizona Preservation Foundation is releasing its 2012 list of Arizona's 25 most endangered historic places. Compiled by preservation professionals and historians, the list identifies critically endangered cultural resources of major historical significance to the state.

• "Each of the places we have named is an important historic site, but unfortunately is in grave danger of collapse, demolition, or destruction," said Jim McPherson, Arizona Preservation Foundation Board President. “As our Centennial year draws to a close – the perfect time to reflect on our state’s past, present, and future – it is crucial that residents, private interests, and government officials act now to save these elements of our cultural heritage before it is too late.”

• Historian Vince Murray of Prescott and architect Philip Reina of Glendale co-chaired the Foundation's initiative to investigate the status of each entry and determine what should be dropped off, what should remain and why, and what should be added.

Changes from Previous Lists

• Five buildings on previous lists were destroyed: the 1962 Valley National Bank "Gold Dome" branch was demolished in 2007 by Arizona State University, the 1913 Havasu Hotel in Seligman was demolished in 2008 by the BSNF Railway Company, the 1921-22 Mohave County Hospital was demolished in 2008 by the County, the 1939 Southern Pacific Railroad Depot in Casa Grande suffered significant damage from suspected arson in 2009, and the 1928 Eastman Cotton Gin was demolished by the Town of Buckeye in 2012.

• On the positive side, six historic sites were removed from previous lists because significant progress was made to ensure their preservation: Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale, Mesa Grande Platform Mound Ruins in Mesa, Old U.S. Highway 80 Bridge between Buckeye and Gila Bend, Second Pinal County Courthouse in Florence, and Valley National Bank (now Chase Bank) at 44th Street & Camelback Road in Phoenix.

Adamsville Ruins

Adamsville is a large Classic Hohokam habitation site, dating from AD 1100 to AD 1450, consisting of a platform, mound, at least one compound, a ball court, and 41 associated mounds of which some still have standing architecture. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is located near the 19th century town for which it is named. It is the second largest Hohokam housing area along the Canal Casa Grande, second only to the combined communities of Grewe and Casa Grande. The current size of the site is 155 acres of which 126 acres are proposed for addition to Casa Grande National Monument. The site is threatened by encroachment from commercial development and the State of Arizona is not able to provide adequate protection.

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Arizona State Parks

Our Arizona State Parks are in trouble. The economic downturn and tight state budget led the State Legislature to strip out and redirect most State Parks funding. Some Parks have closed. Others are on the list for closure. Dedicated and experienced employees have been laid off and Heritage Fund grants were eradicated. Elimination of the voter-approved Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund in FY2010 caused a $10 million permanent annual revenue reduction and removed the last source of Parks’ capital and maintenance funding. This also removed all matching funding for historic preservation projects as well as all local, regional, and state park enhancements & trails improvements. It is urged that the Governor and State Legislature consider a fully operational State Parks system and additional funds obtained through supplemental and sustainable funding sources.

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Basque Pelota Ball Court

Basque Pelota is a handball-like game originating on the borders of Spain and France. When Basques immigrated to America in the 1800s, they brought their sport with them. Approximately two dozen Pelota ball courts exist in the U.S. Of that, a dozen or so remain west of the Mississippi and only one remains in Arizona. Currently, there are issues over how the site in Flagstaff can be and should be developed. Though the owners would like to preserve the property and city officials have proposed several scenarios for preservation, their efforts at reuse on the site have been fraught with problems outside of their control.

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Broadway Boulevard

Broadway was born modern. The boulevard expressed the new American optimism and post-war economic boom. Like many cities, Tucson was growing rapidly. In 1940, the population was 35,000; by 1960, it soared to 212,000. As an important suburban corridor, modern structures were built along its edge to support new neighborhoods with their curved streets and rambling ranch houses. Broadway was a reflection of the American Dream. The Regional Transportation Authority funding, approved by Pima County voters on May 16, 2006, included plans for significant expansion of Tucson’s mid‑century modern Broadway Boulevard. The scope expands the road from 4 to 8 lanes and threatens 127 significant and National Register eligible properties and the small businesses they house.

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Buckhorn Baths

In 1939, Ted and Alice Sliger established the baths unknowing that their efforts to make a living of the natural mineral waters would help to establish Mesa and the East Salt River Valley as a mecca for professional baseball. In 1947, the New York Giants made the Buckhorn Baths their spring training home and continued to do so for 25-plus years. Ty Cobb, Leo Durocher, Willie Mays, Gaylord Perry, and others were regular guests. The Sligers established a post office, bus stop, water hole, museum, and motel, which they operated for 65-plus years. Also known as the Buckhorn Mineral Wells and Wildlife Museum, the latter moniker due to an immense taxidermy collection, the baths have been closed for years. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the location of the Buckhorn Baths makes it a prime target for development, and speculation is rampant that this part of Mesa and Arizona history could be lost.

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Camp Naco

This adobe compound was between 1919 and 1923, as part of the U.S. War Department's Mexican Border Defense construction project -- a plan to build a 1,200-mile barrier along the border. After the camp closed, the Civilian Conservation Corps used the complex in the 1930s for staging projects in southeast Arizona. Over the next several decades, the property owners used the structures as rental housing. Now owned by the Town of Huachuca City, the property has been heavily degraded due to neglect. Many of the adobe structures are eroded from exposure to the elements. The roof of one of the barracks has caved in, and other buildings merely ruins. In May 2006, arson destroyed four of the non-commissioned officer buildings and damaged the roof of a fifth. Unchecked vegetation is threatening the foundation of buildings and increasing the danger of fire.

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Copper Miner Monument

In 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, renowned artist Raymond Sanderson created a stunning art deco sculpture dedicated to the “virile men, the copper miners.” Produced under the Works Project Administration, the monument survives today as a unique icon to Bisbee and a significant piece of American art. While the sculpture appears to be in good structural condition, localized areas of fine cracking appear near the base and deep cracking across the legs at the knees and ankles. The City of Bisbee fears that without preservation and restoration funds, the statue may fall into ruin and a unique form of artwork lost.

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David & Gladys Wright House

When it learned in May 2012 that the David & Gladys Wright House in Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood had been purchased by developers who had indicated their intent to bulldoze the structure and build two “luxury homes,” the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy requested the City of Phoenix to grant historic preservation and landmark designation to the house. A number of local, state, and national organizations endorsed the Conservancy’s appeal. The City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission, Camelback East Village Planning Committee, and Planning Commission have recommended landmark status to the Phoenix City Council. A new (anonymous) buyer has stated his intent to restore and preserve the property, but the sale has not been completed.

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Empire Ranch

Located in the 42,000-acre Las Cienegas National Conservation Area and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Empire Ranch traces its history to the 1870s, when a 160-acre quarter section homestead was bought by Walter Vail and Herbert Hilsop. At the time, the ranch house was a four-room adobe, with a zaguan (breezeway) that passed between the rooms into the corral. By the turn of the 20th Century, the ranch covered almost a million acres and the house had grown to 22 rooms. The Vail family lived there until the 1920s, when Edward Boice of the Chiricahua Cattle Co. bought and then ranched the property until the 1970s. In 1988, the BLM bought the property through a public-private land swap and designated the ranch lands as a natural conservation area, which it remains today. The Empire Ranch Foundation has worked to preserve the ranch house and outbuildings, including emergency repairs and stabilization.

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First Baptist Church

This church was completed in 1930 to serve parishioners in central Phoenix before suburban expansion after World War II. The four-story building includes a roof-top garden, concrete and wood floors, diamond-patterned clerestory windows, Italian gothic motifs, three-pointed arch doorways, decorative cornices, stone columns, and a bell tower. While saved from demolition in 1992 from previous fire damage and despite the best intentions of its current owner, the building continues to lay dormant.

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Fisher Memorial House

This Casa Grande house was built in 1927 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. When listed, it was considered an outstanding example of a Period Revival residential and commercial building executed in local material of uncoursed fieldstone construction. The house is currently in a significant state of disrepair. Some windows and doors are missing or damaged and the roof is leaking, which can cause structural damage.

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Geronimo Station

Located between Safford and Globe on the westbound side of Interstate 70 is a small store, gas station, and four-casita motel (complete with carports between the units). Constructed of adobe in the 1930s and 1940s to accommodate travelers heading west, it is one of the few original buildings still standing in the state-registered historic town-site of Geronimo. The property is in poor condition and is deteriorating from neglect.

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Glendale Tract Community Center

The Glendale Tract Community Center, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a 1,900 square foot adobe structure built in 1937. The social hall served the surrounding residential subdivision developed by the Resettlement Administration, a New Deal agency. The 24-home subdivision was created as part of a plan to relocate displaced farmers and unemployed urban workers to planned, part-time subsistence farm projects where they could grow their own crops. The current historic district consists of 13 of the original houses and the community center, all of which are rare examples of New Deal programs. While the City of Glendale has rejected initial plans to demolish certain buildings, it is only because the City will not allow more than five residences to be built. The owner needs eight to make their project viable, but if they can make due with a smaller number of residences, there is little to stop the demolition.

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Gonzales Martinez House

The modest vernacular Gonzales Martinez House is one of only two buildings from Tempe’s formative first decade, constructed by Ramon Gonzales in 1880 of locally-produced adobe. In 1892, Jesus Martinez purchased the property in whose family it miraculously remained for more than 90 years. Given all the changes that have occurred in and around downtown Tempe, it is surprising that the structure has survived. The reason may have more to do with a long-standing property dispute only recently resolved between the City, State, and railroad. Without intervention, the house will most likely be lost to inner city decline. The entire site is of sufficient size to be used for high-density development.

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J.N. Denier Tenement House

The 1888 J. N. Denier Tenement House is located across the street from the Second Pinal County Courthouse. This flat-roofed Sonoran row house retains much of its original fabric and has not been subjected to excessive remodeling. An Anglo-Style half-hipped roof was added between 1898 and 1911. Several original canales (rain spouts) designed to drain the building’s original earth roof still project from the upper part of the south adobe wall just underneath the deep curved overhanging eaves of the “new” shingled roof above. According to the SHPO there are components found in no other building in the state of Arizona. Construction documents were prepared utilizing Arizona State Parks Heritage Funds, but once the Heritage Fund was defunded by the State Legislature no further work was performed. The building is in serious need of rehabilitation.

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Maple Ash Neighborhood

The Maple Ash Neighborhood consists of three subdivisions, the largest concentration of historic resources in Tempe. The Gage Addition, Park Tract, and College View subdivisions are significant as one of Tempe’s oldest surviving neighborhoods. The area is adjacent to downtown Tempe, Arizona State University, and Tempe St. Luke's Hospital, each of which have exerted pressure on the neighborhood at various times in the past. While the City Historic Preservation Commission and Office and a majority of the neighborhood’s historic home owners would like to have a historic district zoning overlay placed on the neighborhood, the property is zoned multi-family and many owners would prefer to develop their properties. Without some kind of protections, preservation advocates see the historic character of the neighborhood, and with it any potential designation to the National Register of Historic Places, in jeopardy.

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Marist College

The three-story, Marist College was built in 1915 by Manual Flores, a Tucson contractor. A component of the downtown precinct of the Diocese of Tucson, the school provided a Catholic education for boys from elementary school to high school sophomore year. It was an educational facility until 1968, when it became office space for the Diocese of Tucson. It has been vacant since 2002. Marist College is threatened by structural destabilization caused by the collapse of two corners and the cracking of a third. This deterioration is due to water penetration that comes from leaks in the roof and from the scupper and downspout drainage system. A re-plastering 30 years ago with a plasticized composite stucco (Tuff-Tex) has cracked and spalled, allowing water to penetrate the walls but preventing the adobe from drying. Emergency bracing has temporarily stabilized the building, but there is a clear and present danger of collapse if a permanent solution is not implemented. Photo

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Meehan/Gaar House

Built in 1903 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this Casa Grande house is an unusual example of the Colonial Revival influence executed in adobe. The structure is also significant for its association with two of Casa Grande's well-known citizens: Tom J. Meehan who built the house, owned Gilt Edge Saloon, and served on the Casa Grande Board of Trade; and Fanne Gaar who served on the City Council and was the first woman to be elected mayor of an Arizona city. The Meehan/Gaar House is currently in a state of disrepair with deteriorating veranda, roofing, and adobe walls. P

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Mesa Citrus Growers Association Building

The 1935 citrus packinghouse is located at the southwest corner of Mesa’s town center at Broadway and Country Club. Adjacent to the railroad, its output was easily shipped. The complex represents the heyday of Valley agriculture, particularly citrus growing. With citrus acreage rapidly being replaced by new development, the packinghouse now is the last example of the once powerful citrus industry in metro Phoenix. With packing operations suspended in June 2010, the site has been put up for sale, thereby placing the structures at risk for clearing and new development.

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Mountain View Colored Officers Club

High on a hill overlooking Fort Huachuca Army base in Sierra Vista sits a dilapidated building that once echoed with the sublime song stylings of Lena Horne during World War II. She came to entertain the black troops at the Mountain View Colored Officers Club, built in 1942 by the then-segregated Army for its growing number of colored soldiers. A plan to preserve that building and turn it into an African-American military research center is on the drawing board, but an estimated $3 million is needed to save and convert the club.

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Peter T. Robinson House

A 1905 brick cottage with Neo-Classical influence listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Peter T. Robinson was a prominent local attorney, active in Yuma community affairs. The house is vacant and is broken into regularly. The roof is open to the sky, the floor is caving in, and a small fire destroyed the eastern portico and some of the roof over the kitchen.

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Sage Memorial Hospital School of Nursing

The Ganado Mission was established in 1901 by the Presbytery of Arizona through the Board of Home Missions. A decade later, the board approved a twelve bed hospital at Ganado. This was the first non-governmental funded hospital on an Indian reservation in the U.S. About 60 buildings were built before 1957, including the 1903 manse, 1911 Adobe West, 1920 Dining Hall (one of the oldest and largest two-story adobes in the U.S), and 1929 Almira College. The Sage Memorial Hospital School of Nursing was the first accredited nursing training program in the U.S. for Native American women. Over the last 35 years, drainage problems have detrimentally affected the foundations of some of the structures due to uncontrolled runoff and soil expansion. Unabated, the differential settlement may cause the foundations to shift and the structures to fail.

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San Ysidro Ranch Ruins

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the San Ysidro Hacienda was the home of Jose Maria Redondo, an early Arizona pioneer. The ranch once contained over 2,000 acres, but subsequent to the death of Redondo in 1878, his family could not make a claim to more than 160 under American homestead laws; not enough land to support the hacienda's extensive agricultural operations and it quickly fell into ruin. The site once contained the adobe ruins of the main ranch house, a two-story mill, and rubble mounds; the original headquarters included a cane mill, numerous storehouses, workhouses, stables, carriage house, harness house; and houses for approximately 100 laborers' families built outside the walls of the headquarters. Named for the patron saint of agriculture, it was the first large non-Indian irrigated farm in Arizona with 27 miles of canals and ditches bringing water from Gila River. Recent development has encroached on the site and the ruins are now at risk.

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Sun Mercantile Building

Designed by E.W. Bacon and constructed by Wells & Son, the 1929 Sun Mercantile Building is the first and only known warehouse built and owned by a Chinese-born businessman in Phoenix (Tang Shing). It is the last remaining building of the city’s second Chinatown. Developers of a hotel and condo project want to insert an 11-story tower inside the walls of this city-owned structure, listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and Phoenix Historic Property Register. After the Phoenix City Council's unanimous vote on December 14, 2005 to allow the "facadomy," the Save Sun Merc Coalition, Arizona Preservation Foundation, and twelve other groups filed an appeal in Maricopa County Superior Court and received a favorable ruling from the judge.

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White Gates House

Perhaps the first residential design by architect Al Beadle, the White Gates House was probably influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s 1951 Farnsworth House. Previous owners gutted the interior and scraped the landscape from the property. Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the house sits vacant. Homes in the neighborhood sell in the seven figures and the property is valuable for redevelopment. If action is not taken soon, the owner may be required by the City to demolish the house and sell the property.

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About the Foundation

• The Arizona Preservation Foundation is Arizona's nonprofit statewide historic preservation organization. Founded in 1979, the Foundation is dedicated to preserving Arizona's historic, archaeological, architectural, and cultural resources.

• The Foundation offers a variety of services and programs, including: Arizona Historic Preservation Conference, Governor's Heritage Preservation Awards; Speakers Bureau, Preservation Resource List, and Arizona's Most Endangered Places List.

• The Foundation encourages feedback on the endangered places list and what might be added in the future. If you have updates or ideas to share, call 602-258-1920 or email info@azpreservation.org For more information about the Foundation, visit azpreservation.org or its Facebook page.