NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018 expiration date 03/31/2022
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.
1. Name of Property Historic name: El Presidio Fountain Other names/site number: El Presidio Park Fountain, Clement Fountain, and Richard Elias Fountain _ Name of related multiple property listing: N/A (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing ______2. Location Street & number: El Presidio Park, 165 W. Alameda St. City or town: Tucson State: Arizona County: Pima Not For Publication: Vicinity:
______3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ___ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: ___national _ _statewide _x__local Applicable National Register Criteria: ___A ___B _x_C ___D
Signature of certifying official/Title: Date ______State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.
Signature of commenting official: Date
Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
______4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) ______
______Signature of the Keeper Date of Action ______5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Private:
Public – Local x
Public – State
Public – Federal
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Category of Property (Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
Site
Structure
Object x
Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Noncontributing ______buildings
______sites
______structures
______1______objects
______Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 0 ______6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) RECREATION AND CULTURE/Work of art LANDSCAPE/Object
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) RECREATION AND CULTURE/Work of art LANDSCAPE/Object NOT IN USE
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
______7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) Modern Movement
Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) Principal exterior materials of the property: Foundation: CONCRETE (slab) Walls: CONCRETE (cast in place) Other: OTHER/Mosaic tile
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______Summary Paragraph
The El Presidio Fountain is located near the center of Tucson’s El Presidio Park where it acts as a focal point for the park’s landscaping and surrounding public buildings. The fountain was constructed between 1970 and 1971 and designed by architect Michael A. Lugo, Jr. and artist Charles Clement. It occupies approximately 2,215 sq. ft with a large basin set into the park’s paved surface. The basin is roughly rectangular in shape and is defined by cast concrete elements ornamented with custom bas-relief panels cast by Clement. Since construction, the only substantive changes to the fountain have come from the addition of new tiles used to line the basin during a previous restoration effort. Overall, the fountain is both an excellent example of late Modernist public art and a rare example of public art completed as part of Tucson’s Urban Renewal program. Although it has suffered from a lack of maintenance and remains currently non-functional, the fountain retains integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
______Narrative Description
The El Presidio Fountain is located within El Presidio Park in downtown Tucson, Arizona. The park is part of a complex of City of Tucson (City) and Pima County-owned municipal buildings located between West Alameda Street to the north, Pennington Street to the south, North Church Avenue to the east, and North Granada Avenue to the west (Figures 1 and 2). The park is a
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State roughly rectangular shaped area comprised of both hardscape and softscape landscape elements surrounded by multi-story buildings (Figures 3-6). Within the center of the park stands the El Presidio Park Fountain. Immediately adjacent and abutting the park to the east is the 1929 Pima County Courthouse designed by architect Roy Place, the 1960-1966 10-story Tucson City Hall designed by the architectural firm of Friedman and Jobusch to the southwest, and the contemporary Sunset Park to the northwest. Immediately outside the park are several post World War II (WWII)-era modernist buildings. North of the park across West Alameda Street is the 11- story Transamerica Building (architect Thomas E. Stanley, 1961-1962; notably the site of another Charles Clement sculpture) to the northeast; the single story former Health and Welfare Building (architect James A. MacMillan, 1942) to the north, and the Tucson Museum of Art’s east entry (architect William Wilde, 1974-1975) to the northwest. South across West Pennington Street are the three towers of the Pima County Government Complex (architects Terry Atkinson, Place and Place, Gordon M. Luepke, Ivan A. Sarkiss, and Finigal and Dombrowski, 1967-1974)
The park itself is constructed atop a three-story subterranean garage which, like the Tucson City Hall and Pima County Government Complex, was built during an intensive campaign of urban renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The garage is composed of cast concrete and is accessible to vehicles through multiple entries along West Alameda Street and West Pennington Street. Pedestrian access is provided through vertical circulation shafts which rise above each corner of the garage to provide access to the park. Including these four entry points, the park is also accessible from two footbridges to the south, from a pedestrian walkway through the courthouse to the east, from West Alameda Street to the northeast and northwest, from the adjacent Sunset Park to the northwest, and from the ground story of Tucson City Hall to the west.
These entries meet in a wide plaza paved with red brick and surrounded by a combination of walls and planters cast from exposed aggregate concrete often with attached concrete benches. These planters are filled with sculpted shrubs and small shade trees and help screen the plaza from the surrounding buildings. Within the plaza, circular planters—also often with wrapping benches—are used to help further organize the area into discrete spaces for specific types of usage. Many of the planters contain single shade trees to help further divide the space while grass lawns are found by the park’s fringes to the north and south. Since construction, much of the plaza’s original public art has been replaced or supplemented by memorials to veterans serving in foreign wars. Currently, the large-scale January 8th Memorial (architect Chee Salette, 2019-2021) is under construction to the east of the fountain on a portion of the park’s original lawns adjacent to the former Pima County Courthouse.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 1. Location of the El Presidio Fountain.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 2. Aerial overview of the El Presidio Fountain.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 3. El Presidio Fountain, facing southeast (Logan Simpson 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0001]). Note that at the start of fieldwork, the fountain under fencing related to a long-term construction project underway to its east.
Figure 4. El Presidio Fountain, facing southeast (Logan Simpson 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0002]).
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 5. El Presidio Fountain, facing east (Logan Simpson 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0003]).
Figure 6. El Presidio Fountain, facing north (Logan Simpson 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0004]).
As noted previously, the fountain is located near the plaza’s geographic center but offset slightly to the east (see Figures 3-6). The fountain possesses an irregular, semi-rectangular footprint measuring at its maximum 60 ft 6 inches by 46 ft 6 inches. Within this footprint, a series of intersecting rectangular blocks of varying size and height create a rectilinear but irregularly-
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State shaped basin which is nearly as deep as the plaza. The blocks are cast from a light, buff-colored concrete and have exposed tie holes which show the evidence of their craftsmanship.
Within the basin of the fountain is a cast concrete podium in the shape of a shallow truncated cone topped by a cylinder (Figure 7). Three evenly distributed wedges have been removed from the cone to leave space for water features. Rising from the cylinder are three cast concrete cylindrical masts arranged in a triangular shape with heights of 24 ft, 22 ft, and 20 ft respectively (Figures 8 and 9; see continuation sheets for full construction drawings). These are joined by struts approximately 4 ft above grade and 16 ft above grade. The lower strut possesses three cross arms which are cantilevered out from the masts between 6 and 8 ft over the basin in a triangular arrangement. The two 8 ft arms possess small-scale cast concrete blocks echoing the irregular arrangement of those blocks forming the basin walls (Figures 10 and 11). The remaining 6 ft arm terminates in a cast concrete “fountain bowl” (Figure 12).
Figure 7. El Presidio Fountain showing base podium, facing east (Logan Simpson 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0005]).
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 8. El Presidio Fountain showing base of masts, facing north (Pima County 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0006]).
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 9. El Presidio Fountain masts, looking up, facing south (Pima County 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0007]).
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 10. El Presidio Fountain west arm, facing northwest (Pima County 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0008]).
Figure 11. El Presidio Fountain south arm, facing northeast (Pima County 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0009]).
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 12. El Presidio Fountain “bowl,” facing west (Pima County 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0010]).
Ornamenting many of the concrete blocks are cast concrete bas-reliefs with a series of organic and orthogonal shapes on their exterior upright sides (Figures 10-14). Designed by artist Charles A. Clement, these elements seek to consider themes of geology, biology, anthropology, and hydrology as they relate to the wider Tucson region (McCune 1970:B.4). While the panels along the fountain’s basin are formed solely from concrete, those supported by the mast arms are further highlighted with glass tesserae used to line the relief in a variety of hues (Figure 14). Although weathered, these elements continue to demonstrate Clement’s emphasis on hand craftsmanship and create a visual counterpoint to the rectilinear formed construction of the basin’s block edges. Full documentation (Table 1, Figures 15-38) of the panels has been adapted from Daughtrey 2020:9-35.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 13. El Presidio Fountain showing cast concrete panel, looking southeast (Pima County 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0011]).
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 14. El Presidio Fountain west arm, facing southeast (Pima County 2020 [AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0012]).
Table 1. Table showing subject and photo of Clement’s bas-relief panels. Adapted from Daughtrey 2020:10-12 (see Figure 15 and Figures 16-38). Note that duplicate photographs may be found between official documentation of the fountain and the figures associated with this table. Full recordation of the fountain was not possible while undertaking fieldwork because of visual obstructions from adjacent construction. Because of this, permission was granted by Pima County to use photographs from their fieldwork in April 2020 where needed.
Photo Direction Panel No. Subject 1 N 2 South panel / Southwest corner / Fountain base / Clement's pre- (Fig. 16) Cambrian fossils (dinosaur bones and possibly reptilian skin) 2 N 2 South panel / Southwest corner / Fountain base / Clement's pre- (Fig. 17) Cambrian fossils / in the background central sculpture and mosaic / panel 3, 5, 7 3 N 3 East panels / Fountain base / Clement's waves and/or geologic (Fig. 18) formations, continuing pre-Cambrian themed elements and representing rising and receding oceans 4 NW 4 East panels / Fountain base / Clement's waves or geologic (Fig. 19) formations, possibly reptilian skin or other elements of aquatic life, continuing pre-Cambrian themed elements / panel 5 in the background 5 NNW 5 East panels / Fountain base / Clement's fossilized ferns and sea (Fig. 20) life, brachiopods, trilobites, coral, sponges, possibly crinoids, continuing pre-Cambrian themed elements / panel 7 in the background
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Photo Direction Panel No. Subject 6 NW 5, 6, 7, 8 East panels / Fountain base / Clement's continuation of (Fig. 21) environmental evolution, oceanic sponges and possibly leaves or a volcanic eruption on panel 6, these elements may represent a drying episode, glacial retreat and the emergence of deciduous trees like conifers - which are represented on later panels / North wall panel 7 in the background - panel 7 faces south and inward toward the pool / panel 8 is the narrow east facing edge piece with panel 7 forming the south panel of this piece and panel 9 forming the north panel of this piece (panel 9 not shown in this image) 7 S 9 North panels / North facing panel - the back of this panel is panel (Fig. 22) 7 and panel 8 is the narrow, east facing edge piece / Clement's abstract geological expressions of sea and rock formations of the Mogollon Rim / panel 12 in background 8 SE 10 North panel / Northwest corner / Clement's tree ring, likely (Fig. 23) influenced by the 1920s discovery of tree ring dating by A.E. Douglass at the University of Arizona (growth rings are apparent while the line through the trunk cross section may represent a coring sample) 9 E 11 West panel / Possibly moving towards more modern climate (Fig. 24) regimes, conifers and deciduous leaves and ferns are included, additional tree rings included on this panel, Clement's signature and reference to the year 1970 10 ESE 11 West panel / Possibly modern climate regimes, conifers and (Fig. 25) deciduous leaves and ferns are included, additional tree rings, Clement's signature and reference to the year 1970 11 E 1 South panel that is west facing, panel 2 forms the south facing (Fig. 26) portion of this block (see photo 1 / Clement's dinosaur bones, possibly a raptor jaw / Southwest corner (begin here and experience in a counter-clockwise manner) 12 From S Central Possible elements: man (Tohono O’odham man in the maze (Fig. 27) looking Arms/Ma [I’itoi] motif wraps around this block)-symbolizing one’s life N sts journey, possible arrastra, citrus fruit in cross section, water 13 From E Arm B Including blue and red tesserae (heavily discolored). Possible (Fig. 28) looking elements: geologic bedding is possible NW 14 W 12 West panel facing inwards towards the pool / Clement's peopling (Fig. 29) of the Americas and Ice Age megafauna - mammoth from Ventana Cave, Clovis hunting technologies including spear throwers and period projectile points 15 From S Arm C Including blue and red tesserae (heavily discolored). Possible (Fig. 30) looking elements: man (Tohono O’odham man in the maze [I’itoi] motif), N possible arrastra, citrus fruit in cross section, water 16 From S Arm B Including blue and red tesserae (heavily discolored) and another, (Fig. 31) looking unidentifiable color. Possible elements: citrus, water, mosaic N elements are unclear 17 From E Arm B Including tesserae of an unidentifiable color (heavily discolored). (Fig. 32) looking Possible elements: citrus in cross section, the alchemy symbol for NW copper with cattle horns, the spiral volute from San Xavier’s central, southern entry facade 18 From E Arm B Including tesserae of an unidentifiable color (heavily discolored). (Fig. 33) looking Possible elements: see above-volute and citrus NW
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Photo Direction Panel No. Subject 19 From E Arm A The bowl, once gently overflowing, represents the dominance of (Fig. 34) looking water but its scarcity in the desert, reminding the public to W conserve finite resources 20 From N Arm C Including blue tesserae and others of an unidentifiable color (Fig. 35) looking S (heavily discolored) Possible elements: cattle, adobe walls, possibly constellations, a dissected Arizona flag is also imbedded as a mosaic on several of this “arm’s” blocks 21 Up Upper Including blue and green tesserae (heavily discolored). It is not (Fig. 36) masts clear what the mosaics at the top of the Masts depict but they may represent space themes (see HALS draft 2015, Aureleo Rosano restoration) 22 From N Arm C Including blue and yellow tesserae (heavily discolored) and (Fig. 37) looking another, unidentifiable color. Possible elements: cattle, adobe SSW walls, possibly constellations, a dissected Arizona flag is also imbedded as a mosaic on several of this “arm’s” blocks 23 From W Arm C Including blue and yellow tesserae. mPossible elements: Tohono (Fig. 38) looking E O’odham man in the maze [I’itoi] motif, a dissected Arizona flag is also imbedded as a mosaic on several of this “arm’s” blocks (right and mid-ground)
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 15. Aerial image key showing location of Clement bas-relief panels. Courtesy of Pima County with additions by author.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 16. Photo 1 showing Panel 2. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 17. Photo 2 showing Panel 2. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 18. Photo 3 showing Panel 3. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 19. Photo 4 showing Panel 4 in foreground and Panel 5 in background. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 20. Photo 5 showing Panel 5. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 21. Photo 6 showing Panels 5, 6, 7, 8. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 22. Photo 7 showing Panel 9. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 23. Photo 8 showing Panel 10. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 24. Photo 9 showing Panel 11. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 25. Photo 10 showing Panel 11. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 26. Photo 11 showing Panel 1. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 27. Photo 12 showing Arms B and C. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 28. Photo 13 showing Arm B. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 29. Photo 14 showing Panel 12. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 30. Photo 15 showing Arm C. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 31. Photo 16 showing Arm B. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 32. Photo 17 showing Arm B. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 33. Photo 18 showing Arm B. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 34. Photo 19 showing Arm A. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 35. Photo 20 showing Arm C. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 36. Photo 21 showing upper portion of Masts. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 37. Photo 22 showing Arm C. Courtesy of Pima County.
Figure 38. Photo 23 showing Arm C. Courtesy of Pima County.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Although the fountain’s water features have been non-functional in the last several years and only intermittently functional before that, the equipment to form and operate them remains intact. Pump houses are located within two of the larger blocks lining the basin which are accessed through steel double doors set into the top of each block. These provide pressure to multiple spray rings set within the basin, as well as bubbler features set into the fountain bowl and upper strut of the masts. From these, water originally fell into the basin which has been repeatedly lined with tiles to prevent leakage. Presently, the basin is lined by 8 inch square slate gray tiles that were likely chosen to blend into the fountain’s concrete body.
Integrity Although the El Presidio Fountain is currently in poor mechanical condition from lack of routine maintenance, as well as its continued use by skateboarders as an artificial grind rail and funbox, its concrete fabric retains excellent historic integrity. The fountain still readily conveys the feeling of a midcentury concrete public sculpture and is a tangible link to Tucson’s largescale urban redevelopment efforts. Past maintenance and restoration efforts have generally replaced elements in kind with comparable materials and techniques while other visible changes are limited to the use of new tiles to line the basin. Because of this, the El Presidio Fountain retains its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
______8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.)
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)
A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
B. Removed from its original location
C. A birthplace or grave
D. A cemetery
E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
F. A commemorative property
G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions.) Art Landscape architecture
Period of Significance 1970-1971
Significant Dates 1970-1971 (construction)
Significant Person (Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.) N/A
Cultural Affiliation N/A
Architect/Builder Charles Alfred Clement (Artist) Johnson Construction Co. (Builder) Michael Angel Lugo, Jr. (Architect & Engineer) M.M. Sundt Construction Co. (Builder) Tony Graziano (Artist’s Assistant)
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable criteria considerations.)
The El Presidio Fountain is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) at the local level of significance under Criterion C as one of few remaining examples of Modernist public art associated with Urban Renewal efforts in Tucson during the late-1960s and early- 1970s. Its design is indicative of Tucson’s largescale and controversial urban renewal program that remade much of Tucson’s historic core. The design is reflective of two things: firstly; the renewal program’s failure to acknowledge the place and people it replaced and secondly; the high-quality, late-Modernist design, and regionalism of the projects that characterized this replacement. Architect Michael A. Lugo, Jr.’s structure combined with artist Charles Clement’s decorative panels is a uniquely Southwestern hybrid that combined tenants of Brutalist materiality with local craftsmanship that paid tribute to the history, zoology, geology, and botany of the Sonoran Desert. With the continued loss of contemporary public sculpture from the redevelopment of El Presidio Park, the fountain is the principal remaining sculpture that serves as a reminder of both the City’s Urban Renewal efforts and the many iterations of the park over time.
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State ______Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)
Introduction El Presidio Park (sometimes El Presidio Plaza) is the latest in a long string of names that harkens back to the military origins of the park in the late 18th century. In the following text, these names are interchanged according to the period under discussion. For the purposes of clarity, a timeline of these names and their variations is supplied here:
1775-1868: La plaza de las Armas
1868-c. 1880: Court-house Plaza (note that Spanish language newspapers continued to use the name la plaza de las Armas or la plaza de Armas) c. 1880-1968: Court Plaza (sometimes Court Plaza Park)
1968-present: El Presidio Park (sometimes El Presidio Plaza)
Prehistory and Early History The history of the El Presidio Park can be traced back to Tucson’s colonial settlement when Spanish colonists constructed largescale edifices near the Pima villages at Chuk Shon (Nequette and Jeffery 2002:10). Because of the size of the Pima settlement, the Spanish missionaries ordered the construction of the visita mission of San Cosmé de Tucson (a Spanish corruption of Chuk Shon) on the west bank of the Santa Cruz River in 1699 (Nequette and Jeffery 2002:10). Regular Apache Figure 39. Artist’s rendering of the Tucson Presidio during the Spanish attacks in the late 18th century Colonial Period. Plan Number H-2006-010, Maps and Records, led mercenary Colonel Hugo Department of Transportation, City of Tucson. “Old Downtown Tucson, Oconór (1732-1779) to La plaza de las Armas’ in 1785 with additional drawing showing the old consolidate Spanish military El Presidio Wall as it relates to City Buildings in 2000 [not shown].” 2000. power throughout Southern Illustration by R.P. Hale. Arizona (Nequette and Jeffery 2002:11 -12). Oconór chose to centralize power in Tucson and laid out plans for a new Presidio in 1775 (Figure 15) (Stewart 1975:8.0). The presidio was located opposite the mission on the Santa Cruz’s east bank to flank the natural transportation corridor
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State created by the river (Nequette and Jeffery 2002:12). It was composed of a large internal courtyard initially protected by wooden palisades with a small spring el ojito located south of protected site (Messina 2005:37). By 1783, the building was given adobe perimeter walls measuring 600 ft long, 3 ft wide, and some 10-12 ft tall (Messina 2005:37). Additional adobe buildings were constructed onto the wall’s interior face with several free-standing buildings located on either side of a central east-west street which was called la calle de la Guárdia (Messina 2005:37). The street and buildings created two rough internal plazas; la plaza Militar to the north and la plaza de las Armas to the south (Messina 2005:37). Over the following two centuries, la plaza de las Armas would continue to be a public gathering place eventually becoming the contemporary El Presidio Park.
La plaza de las Armas Although Tucson was never planned as a formal Spanish pueblo, the centralized plazas of its presidio echoed the formal urban design principles of the Spanish Laws of the Indies. The Laws were a series of edicts intended to control the siting, form, and development of overseas Spanish colonies and stipulated that each pueblo should have a central plaza from which a gridiron of streets radiated outwards (Veregge 1993:381). The Spanish emphasis on the plaza as an organizing urban element compounded—and was arguably inspired by—a long history of feature’s use in Mesoamerican cities and by Puebloan peoples throughout the Southwest (Low 1995:749). Perhaps because of this, the feature has developed or retained a unique social importance in portions of Hispano-influenced American cities where it remains what cultural geographer Daniel D. Arreola describes as “the religious and political focus of the community, a geographical pivot encompassed by surrounding streets and houses” (Arreola 1992:52).
Following the completion of Tucson’s presidio, the protection offered by its presence encouraged limited private construction outside its adobe walls (Messina 2005:39). This accelerated following Mexican independence and by the 1850s, the suppression of the Apache enabled unrestricted settlement beyond the fort (Van Slyck 1998:124; Nequette and Jeffery 2002:15). Overtime, the obsolete walls of the presidio were removed leaving the two plazas intact and integrating them as open space into the Tucson’s organic street system (Nequette and Jeffery 2002:12). Both remained present following the Gadsden Purchase in 1854 and are shown on the first map of Tucson dating to 1862 (Figure 40).
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Figure 40. 1862 Fergusson Map. AHS #2573, Arizona Historical Society. “Map of Tucson,” 1862. Surveyed by Major David Fergusson.
By the late 19th century however, Anglo American urban practices had begun to transform Tucson’s core. Many street names had been changed from Spanish to English, roads had been regularized, and new construction eschewed traditional Sonoran architectural forms. Within the former presidio, la plaza Militar was infilled with new developments, while la plaza de las Armas was renamed Court-house Plaza (later Court Plaza) after a new county courthouse erected on its eastern side (Figure 16) (The Arizona Citizen 1873:1; Thiel 2018). The 1868 design of the courthouse generally respected Tucson’s Mexican character and utilized Sonoran vernacular
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State building forms with adobe walls; a flush, street- fronting façade; and a flat roof (Thiel 2018; Nequette and Jeffery 2002:273).
A stronger display of Anglo-American identity, however, was made with the construction of a new Protestant church in the plaza’s western half (Figure 42). In 1878, this parcel of public land was sold to a new congregation of Presbyterians who had Figure 41. First Pima County Courthouse located across from Court-house previously held services Plaza’s (la plaza de las Armas) southeast corner. Note that the low-pitched within the nearby gable was added several years after the building was initially constructed. courthouse (The Arizona N.d. On file with Desert.com Citizen 1876:3). The sale was made by order of the City Council in exchange for $350 and stood in stark comparison to a similar request made by Tucson’s Catholic Church only four years earlier (The Arizona Star 1878:3; Van Slyck 1998:131). With an existing cathedral located along the nearby Church Plaza (formerly la plaza de la Mesilla), the Catholics had petitioned the council for a portion of the Armas plaza to secure the area for processional uses (Van Slyck 1998:131). With the rapid issuance of a denial, Catholic leaders came to discern an informal policy of Protestant encroachment within the city’s new Anglo-American administration (Van Slyck 1998:132).
The sale of the Courthouse parcel to the Presbyterians was not the only way, however, that the new Protestant church contrasted with that of the Catholics. With deep ties to Tucson’s established Mexican community, the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Augustine (Catedral de San Agustín) was initially constructed in the Sonoran Vernacular tradition forming the eastern wall of Church Plaza and rising only a single story with adobe masonry walls, a flat roof, and pedimented parapet topped by a cross to signify its function and entry (Van Slyck 1998:123). The new Presbyterian Church meanwhile, arose detached in the center of its parcel with Carpenter Gothic features that included a prominent gabled roof, pointed-arch apertures, and a plastered exterior inscribed to look like stone (The Arizona Citizen 1878:3).
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Figure 42. Court-house plaza (now El Presidio Park) with rudimentary landscaped park and Presbyterian Church. Looking northwest. AHS BD109345, Arizona Historical Society. c. 1880.
This architectural statement was joined in 1881 with the construction of a new county courthouse immediately southeast of the plaza on a block-sized parcel along Pennington Street (Thiel 2018). Where the old courthouse—perhaps less by choice than by necessity—was architecturally deferent to the city’s traditions, the new courthouse reflected the latest Eastern fashions with its style and materials imported on the new railroad (Figure 43). Like the church, this building reflected eastern norms and was sited in the center of its parcel and surrounded by conspicuously non-native grass and shade trees (Thiel 2018). Its brick masonry walls loomed above these, rising to a height of two stories with a complex pointed roofing system and eight-sided tower making it a prominent local landmark. While the building possessed entries on three sides, its principal entrance opened to the south onto Pennington Street while the connected jail and jail yard were located to the north and northwest, adjacent to the plaza’s open space. This orientation further emphasized and perpetuated Anglo Tucson’s detachment from its Hispanic-era plazas, slowly removing them from their former roles as civic centers.
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State In 1888, public campaigns undertaken by both the Catholics and Presbyterians resulted in the creation of parks in Church and Court Plaza with formal landscaping, shade trees, and well- watered grass (Van Slyck 1998:133; The Arizona Star 1888a:8; 1888b:4). Geographer Nina Veregge writes that the “[i]nfill of ‘empty’ plazas was widespread during the nineteenth century throughout Latin America; landscaped parklike spaces were a European import… In terms of continuity, it’s a fair leap down the range; from an open volume Figure 43. Second Pima County Courthouse seen here from defined by building edges to one Pennington Street. ID 95-3514, Arizona State Library, Archives filled in with a mass of foliage, and Public Records. History and Archives Division, RG 99 under which run formalized, Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, SG 12 symmetrical paths” (Veregge Historic Photographs. c. 1920. 1993:398). This, Veregge continues, “[corresponded] to a transformation in culture: from the plaza de armas needed for mobilizing defense on the frontier, to a parquet central that exemplified progressive civilization in the courteous intersections of its tree-lined paths” (Figure 44) (Veregge 1993:398). These changes were celebrated by Tucson’s Anglo-American population as a sign of advancement with frequent references to such growth made in both English newspapers and local speeches (The Arizona Star 1888b:4; Arizona Weekly Citizen 1889:4). In an 1880 address celebrating the completion of the railroad, Anglo-American settler Ben Morgan stated that “I do prophesy that Tucson, the mud town on the banks of the Santa Cruz, will be Tucson the magnificent. Here shall be seen gardens as lovely as those in which Lorenzo turned his lute to the May-day dance of the Etrurian Virgins. Flowers of every hue shall blossom and bloom, and fruits of every clime shall ripen. The rude and unattractive mud front will give place to the stately mansion with pedestal and column…” (qtd. in Sheridan 1992:55).
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Figure 44. Presbyterian Church (purchased by a Congregationalist congregation in 1881) and a greener plaza. Arizona Historical Society library and Tucson.com. 1880.
Along with its architecture, the residents and merchants around the plaza were also changing. Historian Thomas Sheridan notes that almost immediately following the American acquisition of Tucson in 1854, “the Mexican population began to be displaced by Anglo merchants and artisans settling in or around the presidio” (Sheridan 1992:79). With a few notable exceptions, “[f]rom the very beginning of the territorial period, then, the southern portions of Tucson were turning into Mexican neighborhoods”; a process which “accelerated during the next twenty years” (Sheridan 1992:80). By 1881, Mexican occupation within the walls of the former presidio varied between 25% and 74% depending upon the block with a combination of Anglo-Americans and Chinese residents occupying the remainder of the dwellings (Sheridan 1992:81). In the immediate vicinity of Courthouse Plaza (by now, Court Plaza), historic maps and census records indicate the existence of a diverse neighborhood including long-standing Mexican residents, wealthy Anglo Americans, and new Chinese immigrants fresh from jobs as transcontinental tracklayers (Sheridan 1992:81; Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited 1886:3, 5, 6).
Subsequent maps show that these patterns remained intact into the 20th century with the plaza bounded on the southeast by the courthouse, jail, city hall, and public library; to the south by adobe dwellings and the rear of multi-story, Pennington-facing commercial buildings; to the west by a block of Chinese dwellings and businesses; and to the north by a variety of single-story row house dwellings and the two-story Italianate style Jacobs House (Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited 1886:3, 5, 6; Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited 1889:3, 5, 6; Sanborn-Perris Map Co. Limited 1896:3, 5, 6). The landscaped portion of the plaza became defined by a simple
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State network of pathways forming the shape of an “X” set within a square and centered upon a circular tank and later an octagonal bandstand.
In a presentiment of later urban renewal projects, in 1910 the city chose to improve Alameda Street and Ott Street from Court Plaza west towards the Santa Cruz River (The Arizona Star 1910:8). Newspaper reports indicate that the project was expected to facilitate “the virtual cleaning up of Chinatown” located west of the plaza and, would create new parkland to “make a most beautiful breathing place for the lower half of the town” (The Arizona Star 1910:8). Assessments were levied against adjacent property owners to pay for the project and included predominantly Anglo-Americans as well as many Chinese and Mexican residents (The Arizona Star 1910:8). Property behind the church was condemned, including a popular natatorium (indoor swimming pool) and several rows of Chinese-occupied adobe dwellings and businesses (The Arizona Star 1910:8; Sanborn Map Company 1909:17).
In 1915, the church—owned by Congregationalists since 1881—was vacated after parishioners voted to relocate to a new site near the University of Arizona (Trinity Presbyterian Church n.d.; Arizona Historical Society n.d.). The building was purchased by city officials in 1916 and replaced with a Beaux-Arts city hall ornamented with Corinthian columns and a prominent portico (Figure 45) (Arizona Historical Society n.d.; Nequette and Jeffery 2002:80). Echoing the orientation of the church, however, the new city hall faced onto the plaza both re-engaging with it and restoring some of its public importance.
Figure 45. Former City Hall looking northwest from southeast corner of Court Plaza park. Tucson.com/Arizona Daily Star. January 4, 1967. Photograph by Art Grasberger.
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Additional administrative projects were planned thereafter when structural problems were found with the 1881 courthouse, thus prompting the construction of a third building designed by architect Roy Place (Thiel 2018; Nequette and Jeffery 2002:79). In contrast to the earlier courthouse and new city hall, Place’s designs utilized a vigorous interpretation of the Spanish Colonial Revival style which responded—loosely—to Tucson’s Mexican and Hispanic past (The Arizona Star 1928:1, 3). Ironically, to increase the building’s capacity, portions of Tucson’s existing history were demolished when the courthouse parcel was enlarged to include the block to the north occupied by the original 1868 courthouse. This building was removed as were a series of Sonoran vernacular row houses which dated to at least Tucson’s pioneer-era and had since become home for some of the neighborhood’s remaining Mexican residents (Thiel 2018; Sanborn Map Company 1919:3).
The new Pima County Courthouse was completed in 1929 as was a small exhibit erected on its southern side to display salvaged adobe bricks from the city’s original presidio walls (Thiel 2018). In 1942, the building was joined by a new Health and Welfare Center which replaced an earlier series of adobe row house “tenements” on the plaza’s north side which also dated from the early pioneer period (The Arizona Citizen 1942b:7). The new single-story building was designed by architect James A. MacMillan (Place’s chief draughtsman; sometimes McMillan) in a simplified Spanish style “conforming to that of the county court house” (The Arizona Citizen 1942a:2).
Urban Renewal Continuous Anglo-American efforts to make over Tucson’s urban core in a new image had begun to expand beyond individual buildings or plazas by the 1940s. From the loose Spanish Colonial theme applied to the public buildings, a 13 acre “civic and governmental center” was proposed in 1943 (The Arizona Citizen 1943:7). The designs for the center focused on an expanded Court Plaza park which was surrounded by a series of public or social buildings including Place’s courthouse which would be retained as the center’s “heart” (Figure 46) (The Arizona Citizen 1943:7). In its desire to beautify and rationalize existing civil services through a unifying design, the plan drew upon many earlier urban redevelopment schemes inspired by the tenets of the City Beautiful Movement.
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State While the proposal failed to gain traction in subsequent years, it reflected a general feeling among Tucson’s Anglo-American residents and administrative elite that portions of the City required renewal on a large scale. This opinion was nuanced and did not initially or unilaterally advocate for the wholesale redevelopment of the Tucson’s historic core. Writer and journalist Bernice Cosulich stated in 1943 that Tucson “[i]n spots… is ugly, drab, disorderly, and neglected” but called for its physical “beautification” rather than wholesale replacement (Cosulich 1943:14). Cosulich recognized that among the city’s “outstanding characteristics” was its historically “cosmopolitan population” and further that “the Figure 46. “Civic and Governmental Center” located around old Mexican use of houses flush Court Plaza shown improved in center. Courthouse Would be with the sidewalk…has charm and Heart of Proposed ‘Civic Center’. Tucson Daily Citizen, 21 May, utility” which “should be 1943:7. Tucson, Arizona. preserved” (Cosulich 1943:14).
Nonetheless, Cosulich’s lighter calls for rehabilitation were increasingly antiquated in the postwar period as American attention shifted to a modern future. Across the U.S., downtown urban cores remained little changed since the start of the Great Depression and began losing retailers who favored new automotive-centered malls in suburban developments (Abbot 2007:74- 75). Business leaders—increasingly prominent in city governments—sought to utilize public and private resources to enact programs of urban renewal to protect the perceived economic vitality of civic downtown cores (Abbot 2007:74-75).
From the late 1940s onwards, federally incentivized urban renewal programs were utilized to sanitize downtowns and create a surrounding “zone of transition” to facilitate the expansion of the business districts (Abbot 2007:82). This often involved the demolition of adjacent neighborhoods classified as “blighted” to create cleared land for subsequent investment which did—or did not—always materialize (Abbot 2007:82). Scholar Andrew Herscher writes that consequently, “urban renewal often conjoined the displacement of communities of color with
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State consolidation of adjacent central business districts” and continues that “[r]acism and segregation were central to both the white beneficiaries of urban renewal and to the communities of color that were displaced by renewal; for the latter, urban renewal carried out as blight removal was the latest instances in a long history of urban dispossession” (Herscher 2020:302)
Urban renewal schemes in Tucson were slow to materialize owing to local suspicion of largescale federal projects (Williams 2011:144). Only in the mid-1960s did public and political opinion shift with the continued deterioration of the City’s downtown core (Williams 2011:144; Gomez-Novy and Polyzoides 2003:93; Otero 2010:38). By this time, retailers and other merchants had decamped for Tucson’s prosperous suburbs which were burgeoning to the north and east (Gomez-Novy and Polyzoides 2003:93). With limited incomes and aging building stock, the barrios south of downtown and the El Presidio neighborhood became targets for condemnation proceedings and demolitions when their residents proved unable to make costly upgrades (Gomez-Novy Figure 47. Existing buildings removed for Tucson’s and Polyzoides 2003:93). Finally, as federal Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project. Plan urban renewal funds became a tantalizing Number W-68-005J, Maps and Records, possibility, the City ceased issuing new building Department of Transportation, City of Tucson. permits within the “blighted” neighborhoods “Development Urban Renewal, Demolition, that would only raise the cost of seizure by Existing Land Use & Building Conditions Map, imminent domain (Gomez-Novy and Polyzoides Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project, City of 2003:93). Tucson, Pima County, Arizona.” 1968.
Faced with the results of these actions, the Tucson electorate approved the “Pueblo Center” plan in 1966 that would remake 76 acres of the City’s downtown core (Figure 47) (Williams 2011:144). Federal funds and city bonds would finance the condemnation and demolition of the area, as well as the subsequent construction of new public facilities (Otero 2010:115-117; Williams 2011:144-145). Around a new landscaped plaza would be a cultural and event hub (the “Tucson Community Center”) occupied by a municipal arena, a 2,500-seat auditorium, and a large convention center. North of this, the former proposal for a civic and governmental center had been recast with Modernist lines to include a central plaza placed atop the former Court Plaza and surrounded by the old Roy Place-designed courthouse, a new and enlarged City Hall,
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State and various other multi-story governmental buildings (Williams 2011:144-145). The plaza would cap a new three-story underground parking garage and would anchor the surrounding administrative buildings (Figure 48).
Notably, the Pueblo Center was not the result of a single architect or firm but combined the work of many prominent designers into a single area. These components were united by spatial relationships, shared circulation paths, and a common aesthetic agenda which owed its Figure 48. Early model showing proposed roots to the parkland towers and concrete redevelopment on the 76 acres of downtown land subject brutalism of Swiss architect Le Corbusier to renewal. Note that not all of the buildings shown here (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret). South of the were ultimately constructed nor was the large freeway newly christened El Presidio Park, the 10- immediately south of the project boundary (roughly story Tucson City Hall was designed by West Cushing Street today). Courtesy of Tucson.com. prominent local firm Friedman and Jobusch; east of the plaza, three county buildings ranging in height from 7- to 11- stories were designed by a committee including Terry Atkinson, Place and Place, Gordon M. Luepke, Ivan A. Sarkiss, and Finigal and Dombrowski; finally the plaza itself was planned by Michael A. Lugo, Jr. of Tucson firm Blanton and Company (McCune 1970:B.4; Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.a; Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.d.). Demolition began in May 1967 and ultimately resulted in the displacement of 735 individuals including 118 homeowners, 142 families, and 105 businesses through the seizure and demolition of 263 buildings (Regan 1997; Sheridan 2012:297). Owing to the neighborhoods’ multi-decade decline, many properties were assessed by the city at only half of their peak value of twenty years earlier (Sheridan 2012:297).
The improvement of Court Plaza (now El Presidio Park) for the Pueblo Center Redevelopment Plan had been entrusted to the local Tucson architectural firm of Blanton and Company and lead architect Michael Angel Lugo, Jr. Blanton and Company was the most recent iteration of a successful architectural and engineering partnership originally founded by Tony A. Blanton and Frederick P. Cole in 1944 (Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.b). The firm had been started after both men departed from local public sector jobs and together they rapidly developed a full suite of design services with a large staff (Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.b). Before Cole’s departure in 1967, Blanton and Cole was known for designing residential subdivisions, commercial and retail spaces, schools, and other public works projects in a Modernist idiom adapted to Southern Arizona (Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.b).
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Michael Angel Lugo, Jr. Comparatively little is known about architect Michael Lugo whose name appears only sparsely in the historic record (Figure 49). Public Records Indexes indicate he was born in 1934 and was present in Tucson since at least 1964 (The Arizona Citizen 1964:4). At this time, Lugo was working to represent architect Ellery C. Green’s design firm for an addition to the South Tucson Town Hall (The Arizona Citizen 1964:4). What little is known of Lugo’s career thereafter indicates that much of it centered upon socially-minded architectural projects and public planning processes. Lugo is noted for serving with the Tucson Community Design Center which was operated by the Southern Arizona chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and provided free design services to clients typically unable to afford such services (Heltsley 1970:B.1; The Arizona Star 1970a:C.9; The Arizona Star 1970b:A.3). Lugo was also appointed to serve on the public Tucson Citizens Advisory Planning Committee after 1975 and seems to have played a supporting role in the architectural ambitions of the city’s federally sponsored Model Cities program (Tucson Daily Citizen 1975:6; Burton and Finkelsein 1971:4). After receiving his Arizona architectural license in 1968, Lugo’s professional career included Figure 49. The only work on a proposed South Tucson “Mercado” in 1970, the social costs of the known photo of proposed Butterfield freeway extension in 1972, and a local medical clinic in Michael A. Lugo from 1977 (Arizona State Board of Technical Registration n.d.; Ahrenstrom newspaper archives. 1970:B.1; The Arizona Citizen 1972:64; Gold 1973:A.2; Kay 1977:17). City planning body working hard to shape In terms of publicity, Lugo’s involvement in the redevelopment of El Presidio up its act. Tucson Park appears to have been one of the highlights of his career. The task before Daily Citizen, 12 him was far from easy; Blanton and Company had created a 3-story May, 1976:33. subterranean parking garage (capable of holding 600 cars or “19,600 people for Tucson, Arizona. as long as a week in the event of nuclear war”) which placed severe weight restrictions on the landscape above (Turner 1970:B.1). Further, the park needed to wed the florid façade of the 1929 Pima County Courthouse with the formalist and brutalist lines of the new public administration high-rise buildings that were now opposing it. All of this needed to be completed on a limited budget and on top of one of the City’s most historically significant spaces (Varn 1971:2).
El Presidio Park To accomplish this, Lugo proposed an “artistic oasis” without “a central theme” which reconciled its disparate surroundings through an asymmetrical layout. The components of the park would be Modernist in design but include traditional brick masonry, ample vegetation, and historic light standards to avoid criticisms of coldness or sterility. The park was centered by a large plaza connected to its surroundings through both straight and curving pathways of brick and poured concrete (Figure 50). The paving accommodated the high pedestrian traffic expected in the park while a series of circular and linear planters were used to “provide a variety of spaces” for different uses. Lugo explained: “[i]f a person wants to be with people, there’s a space. If he wants to watch the miniskirts go by, there’s a space” (Duddleston, Jr. 1970:21).
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Figure 50. Early plan for El Presidio Park. Plan Number L-95-004, Maps and Records, Department of Transportation, City of Tucson. “El Presidio Park (Between the Pima County Court House and City Hall – 165 West Alameda Street – located between Alameda Street and Pennington Avenue – Reference C-68-23,” 1968. Drawn by J.H.E (name unknown).
Larger open areas were intended to be flexible enough for “outdoor art shows, band concerts, Mexican fiestas and public gatherings” while the west side of the main plaza was intended to contain potential crowds that might overflow from raucous City Council meetings (Pavillard 1971:6). In a subsequent interview, Lugo declared that “[w]e tried to plan a park that would be used the whole darn day… It’s going to look a little scrawny for a while… But we couldn’t afford to put in large trees at the outset… And it may appear overlighted until the trees get big… Hopefully it will be dark enough for kissing but not dark enough for mugging.” (Pavillard 1971:6).
To soften the hardscape, the park would include ten areas seeded with grass, as well as shade trees and flowers within the various planter boxes. Varieties were selected to “represent plants characteristic of this area” and for “their texture, shade, color and seasonal changes (Pavillard 1971:6). Common plant types used included “Modesto ash, silk oak, Moraine locust, Japanese privet, Chinese pistache, purple leaf plum, African sumac, crape myrtle, xylosma, and three
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State kinds of palm” (Pavillard 1971:6). All of this would be kept watered by a private 20,000 gallon per day well located beneath the parking structure (which could likewise supply the garage’s occupants in the event of a nuclear disaster) (Turner 1970:B.1).
Within this landscape were interspersed five art pieces for public enjoyment, all created by local Tucson artists. These artists were given a relatively free reign within their specified budgets and were told only Figure 51. Rendering of El Presidio Fountain showing saguaro set within “that easy maintenance flower. Note that later bas-relief panels have not yet been added. Which of was to be taken into These Art Works of Art? Tucson Daily Citizen, 28 June, 1969:1. Tucson, account, works should not Arizona. be too faddish and should not make strong one-sided social statements” (Duddleston, Jr. 1970:21). A freestanding sculpture was created by artist Nancy Macneil while artistic fountains were created by Jack Hastings and Philip Bellomo (Duddleston, Jr. 1970:21). University of Arizona art professor Donald M. Haskin created a sculpture and fountain while Charles Clement was commissioned to ornament a large central fountain designed by Lugo and Blanton and Company (Figure 51) (Duddleston, Jr. 1970:21; Lewis 1971b:C.3). For their works, each artist would be paid between $1,250 and $5,000 with Clement earning a total of $3,400 making him the second best paid of the group (The Arizona Citizen 1970:29)
The fountain was a focal point for the park’s design and echoed its rectilinear forms, concrete surfaces, and lack of symmetry. Reporters describing the work said Lugo “approached the main fountain as a design problem concerning the water situation in the desert – ‘It should be treated with respect, rather than as an ostentatious display of water” (Duddleston, Jr. 1970:21). Some reports indicate that the overall form was intended to be “a representation of a saguaro cactus as well as a flower” with a large basin (the flower) centered on three 20+ ft masts supporting cantilevered arms (the saguaro) (Matthews 1969:1). Bubblers in the masts were designed so that “just enough water will spill over the columns to keep them glistening” while another was positioned in a cantilevered concrete bowl and “relates to the desert theme, representing the saving of water” (Duddleston, Jr. 1970:21).
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Clement’s addition were a series of cast concrete panels along the fragmented blocks of the basin and more above inlaid with colorful glass tesserae. Following an interview with the artist, journalist Cathryn McCune related that Clement had spent time researching in the Arizona State Museum and U.S. Geological survey in order to show “an abstract impression of the richness of the pre-history of the Tucson area” in the 12 lower panels (McCune 1970:B.4). The upper set meanwhile would depict “the story of Tucson after the arrival of the white man in a theme based on the care, preservation and careful use of water and the culture based on that water and the ground it nourishes” (McCune 1970:B.4).
Charles Clement No documentation has yet been found explaining the selection of Clement for the park’s principal fountain. Nonetheless, Clement’s background and past work made the choice a logical one.
Charles Alfred Clement was the son of French emigrants and was born in New York City in 1921 (Figure 52) (Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.c; Streetman 2009). He discovered his artistic abilities at an early age and was awarded a National Scholastic Scholarship to study both illustration as well as industrial and general design at the New York-based Franklin School of Professional Arts (Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.c). Upon graduation in 1943, Clement worked with professional artists Paul Roberson and Dorothy Draper before pursuing additional education at the New School, Brooklyn Academy, and on location in Aix en Provence (Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.c; Streetman 2009). Figure 52. Charles Alfred and While studying in 1939, Clement met Louise Gallisi Edmea during Louise Edmea Clement at their mutual involvement in the Hudson Craft Guild (Figure 52) work in their Tucson home (Streetman 2009). Like Clement, Edmea was also an artist with a and studio. Working European emigrant background who had chosen to specialize in Together… Custom Designer textiles (Streetman 2009). A lifelong asthmatic, Clement was Craftsmen Create Art in prevented from serving in WWII and had been repeatedly told by his Many Forms. Arizona Daily doctor to move to Arizona. In an interview with The Arizona Daily Star, 2 September, 1959:17. Star, he stated: Tucson, Arizona.
“…I had kept putting off. One day I was sick in bed and I decided the time had come. A friend brought me a map and I picked out Prescott. I took the train as far as Ash Flat and after a night in a drafty trailer, took the bus to Prescott. It was snowing there so I went on to Phoenix. It was raining there so I came on to Tucson. I arrived at night and it seemed nice and warm, so I stayed for the night. The next day, when I could look around, I knew this was the place” (Estes 1959:17)
Returning to New York, Clement and Edmea married in 1949 before settling in Tucson in 1950 (note that sources on this date do not agree; Clinco and Herr-Cardillo 2018:97-98; Streetman 2009). Together, they constructed a house and studio in the Tucson Mountains where they
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State moved in 1952 (3015 East Speedway Boulevard; Clinco and Herr-Cardillo 2018:97-98; Streetman 2009). They would continue to collaborate on each other’s projects and Clement’s professional commissions for the remainder of their careers (Clinco and Herr-Cardillo 2018:97- 98; Streetman 2009; Estes 1959:17).
Beginning in 1946, Clement received work as a children’s illustrator completing books, educational puzzles, and maps (Streetman 2009). Once in Tucson, his career as a freelance artist continued to prosper compelling him to redirect his attention away from illustration and onto ceramics and mural work (Streetman 2009). Overtime, Clement developed an idiosyncratic style reflective of the Modern Movement and proved capable of working in a wide variety of mediums. His versatility made him attractive to a commercial and public clients who commissioned him to create works to complement their Modernist architectural designs. Over the course of his career, Clement’s work would adorn buildings designed by William Wilde, Cook and Swaim, Place and Place, Brown and Brown, Smith and Palafax, and Freedman and Jobusch (Clinco and Herr-Cardillo 2018:97-98).
Most of these works eschew the stark lines of the buildings beneath them and instead use abstracted organic forms cast in complimentary materials with hints of bright colors. Some have noted that Clement’s work was able to humanize and “soften” the buildings beneath them (Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.c). For this work, Clement was recognized with awards including the Southern Arizona AIA Award for murals in mosaic; the American Craftsman Council Merit Award 1960 – 61 – 62; Tucson Art Center Craft Show Awards 1960 – 62 – 63 – 64 – 65 – 70; the Purchase Award – 5th Southwest Annual – 1970; and Honorary membership in the American Institute of Architects (Clinco and Herr-Cardillo 2018:97-98). Intact examples of his work may still be seen within Tucson on the Broadway Podiatry Building, the University of Arizona Administration Building, and the Transamerica Title Building, and as far away as the Nebraska State Capitol Building in Lincoln.
In addition to his professional success, Clement spent much of his time in teaching and engaged in other humanitarian work. Interviews with his close family members suggest he would have liked “to be remembered as a person who passed on his considerable knowledge of life and art to others, so that they could pursue and continue his love of art and life… He felt like if things could not be passed to someone else, they were wasted” (Streetman 2009). To this end, Clement taught workshops at the Manhattan State University in Kansas, Yavapai College in Prescott, and developed a series of classes he taught to inmates at the Arizona State Prison in Florence (The Arizona Citizen 1981:6.D; Kay 1976:F.1). Some of his commissions sought to involve the local community in their design and production including his 1971 work on the Sells School which involved members of the Tohono O’odham Nation (Kuehlthau 1971:2).
With the death of Edmea Clement in 1974, Clement’s pace of production slowed (Streetman 2009; The Arizona Citizen 1974a:36). At this time, Clement was adding coppersmithing to his many mediums and completed a large commission for the Pima County Superior Court Building (The Arizona Citizen 1981:6.D). He died in 1981 of complications from asthma while traveling in Denizli, Turkey (The Arizona Citizen 1981:6.D).
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
El Presidio Fountain Clement’s work on the El Presidio Fountain was well in line with many of his prior commissions which likely precipitated Lugo’s choice. The Fountain was a Modernist object with strong linear features, massive forms, and concrete construction. Through the addition of his designs, the fountain was humanized and provided visual interest to the viewer; modern-day observers may see a stylized mastodon, human figures, plant roots, and water wells (Figure 53).
Still, the “spaceage’ saguaro” design was not Figure 53. Original caption reads: “The patterned concrete block surfaces without controversy around the fountain, like the one in the foreground, have been prepared by (Matthews 1969:1). In craftsman Charles Clement. Below, he adds to a Styrofoam mold from June 1969, the Tucson which a relief-form depiction of the pre-man geophysical history of the director of community Southwest will be cast.” Duddleston, Jr., Tom. Works of 5 Artists to Grace development J. Thomas ‘Roof’ of El Presidio Park. Tucson Daily Citizen 1 June, 1970:17. Tucson, Vila requested a review of Arizona. Photograph by Manuel Miera. Lugo’s park design in part because “the central fountain seems to be a series of fragmented bits and … the main sculptural element is not pleasing in design” (Matthews 1969:1). In response to the critique, an editorial was published one week later by the Society for the Preservation of Tucson’s plaza de la Mesilla (Montiel 1969:22). In it, society president Albert Montiel criticized the fountain as “[a] disappointment to this committee” as it “especially does not represent any historical aspect of the many events which took place in the [Presidio] park (Montiel 1969:22). Notably, it remains unclear if these detractors knew of Clement’s contribution to Lugo’s original design although, their criticism appears to have been moot.
Clement’s contribution to the fountain’s design were initially fashioned offsite where the artist carved a series of Styrofoam forms to use in the fountain’s erection (Figure 54) (Duddleston, Jr. 1970:21). Construction was forced to wait until the completion of the parking garage below which occurred around October 1970 (Turner 1970:B.1). Thereafter, the park above began to
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State take shape under the direction of contractor M.M. Sundt Construction Co. and by December 1970, the lower portion of the fountain had been finished (Figure 30) (Turner 1970:B.1; McCune 1970:B.4). The upper panels would be cast thereafter by the Johnson Construction Co. to complete the fountain’s final form (McCune 1970:B.4). On May 7th, 1971, the fountain was formally turned on while a full-scale celebration inaugurating the park occurred July 2nd with over 1,000 attendees from the public (Lewis 1971a:B.1; The Arizona Star 1971:A.2)
Subsequent History After its completion, the fountain and park appear to have largely fallen from local discourse (Figure 55). Occasional appreciations are found in the form of newspaper photographs or lists of downtown art (The Arizona Citizen 1974b:1; The Arizona Star 1977:C.1; Griffith 1978: Supplement). In 1997, concerns were expressed (then, as now) about the presence of skateboarders in the park and their damage to public property (Burchell 1997:B.1). Around this time, the Tucson-Pima Arts Council began working to Figure 54. Original caption reads: “Muralist-sculptor assess portions of their arts collection through Charles Clement, foreground, is shown removing a program known as SOS (Save Outdoor Styrofoam forms from the cast concrete bas relief Sculpture) (Daughtrey 2020:7). The El sculpture surrounding the base of the new Presidio Park Presidio Fountain along with several others in fountain. With him is his assistant, Tony Graziano, and the park were found to be in poor condition construction worker, Dan Urias…” Presidio Fountain with leaks, mineral deposits, and mechanical Nears Completion [captioned photograph]. Tucson issues (Daughtrey 2020:7). Daily Citizen 17 December, 1970:4. Tucson, Arizona.
Photograph by Art Grasberger. Repairs to the El Presidio Fountain were
deemed to be critical and a restoration campaign was undertaken sometime after the turn of the millennium. Artist Aureleo Rosano and his son Antonio were commissioned to rehabilitate the fountain which was completed by replacing many of its tiles in addition to other repairs (Daughtrey 2020:7). Rosano noted that one of the fountain arms was badly deteriorated and made additional maintenance recommendations which were later found to have not be followed (Daughtrey 2020:7). Water in the fountain has proven to be intermittent and was eventually turned off completely in 2018 owing to possible structural damage in the garage.
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Conclusion While midcentury modernist sculptures can be found throughout Tucson, including work by Charles Clement, what is less common, is public art commissioned during Tucson’s Urban Renewal efforts. The only contemporaneous and thematically related project that includes public art and sculptural fountains can be found in the adjacent Tucson Community Center Historic District (Erickson 2018). No other similar objects dating to this time and with this association are known to be extant.
The fountain is located upon arguably the City’s most important public gathering space with a history stretching back to Tucson’s Hispanic-era founding. It is exceptional as a representative object of the space’s many transformations and the City’s repeated and ongoing efforts to make over the area for a new generation. Even today, with the construction of the January 8th Memorial, the park is transforming once again, and the El Presidio Fountain serves as the principal reminder of this past and those that came before it. Fittingly, in the autumn of 2020, the fountain’s commemorative qualities were further enhanced when it was posthumously renamed for Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias (Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission 2020:3d-5). Elias served on the Pima County Board of Supervisors and throughout his career he championed a variety of social justice and environmental causes.
Figure 55. El Presidio Fountain shortly after completion. Note the original height of the spray rings. New Presidio Park Fountain. Arizona Daily Star 08 May, 1971:B.1. Tucson, Arizona. Photograph by Harry Lewis.
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State ______9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)
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Arizona Historical Society 2005 “MS 1456/ First Congregation Church (Tucson, Ariz.)/ Records, 1881, 1903-2011 (bulk 1990-2009).” Arizona Historical Society (website). https://arizonahistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/library_First- Congregational-Church.pdf, accessed December 15, 2020
Arizona Star, The [Tucson, Arizona] 1878 “The City Council, at a recent meeting…” 18 April:3. Tucson, Arizona. 1888a “The Day’s News in Brief.” 18 February:8. Tucson, Arizona 1888b “Should be Commended.” 22 July:4. Tucson, Arizona. 1910 “Improvements to be Made on Alameda Street.” 7 June:8. Tucson, Arizona. 1928 “15 Men Will Survey Need of Building.” 6 June:1, 3. Tucson, Arizona. 1970a “Coalition Reports HEW Inquiry on Freeways Opposition.” 15 April:C.9. Tucson, Arizona. 1970b “Model Cities Residents Discuss Plans.” 26 June:A.3. Tucson, Arizona 1977 “Cooling Cascades.” 8 May:C.1. Tucson, Arizona.
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Arizona State Board of Technical Registration n.d. Michael Lugo. Registrant Search. 06906: https://btr.az.gov/licensee/lugo-michael- 06906, accessed December 17, 2020.
Arreola, Daniel D. 1992 Plaza Towns of South Texas. Geographical Review 82(1):56-73.
Brandes, Ray 1962 Guide to the Historic Landmarks of Tucson. Arizoniana 3(2):27-40.
Burchell, Joe 1997 Skateboarders may face El Presidio Park ouster. The Arizona Daily Star 17 March:B.1. Tucson, Arizona.
Burton, R. Kent. and Edwin S. Finkelsein 1971 Nixon Splits Economists, Puzzles General Citizens. Tucson Daily Citizen 8 October:4. Tucson, Arizona.
Byars, Charles 1966 The First Map of Tucson. The Journal of Arizona History 7(4):188-195.
Cosulich, Bernice 1943 Appearance of City Not Ideal. Arizona Daily Star 5 October:14. Tucson, Arizona.
Clinco, Demion, and Starr Herr-Cardillo 2018 Sunshine Mile Historic District. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
Daughtrey, Cannon 2020 El Presidio Park’s Central Fountain, Tucson, Arizona [DRAFT]. Historic American Engineering Record. Manuscript on file with the Pima County’s Office of Sustainability and Conservation. Tucson, Arizona.
Duddleston, Jr., Tom 1970 Works of 5 Artists to Grace ‘Roof’ of El Presidio Park. Tucson Daily Citizen 1 June:21. Tucson, Arizona.
Ehrenstrom, Art 1970 South Tucson Planning New $500,000 Center. The Arizona Daily Star 5 January. Tucson, Arizona.
Erickson, Helen 2015 Tucson Community Center Historic District. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Estes, Jane 1959 Custom Designer Craftsmen Create Art in Many Forms. The Arizona Daily Star 2 September. Tucson, Arizona.
Gold, Joe 1973 Freeway Opposed at Hearing. The Arizona Daily Star 2 May:A.2. Tucson, Arizona.
Gomez-Novy, Juan and Stefanos Polyzoides 2003 A Tale of Two Cities: The Failed Urban Renewal of Downtown Tucson in the Twentieth Century. Journal of the Southwest 45(1/2):87-119.
Griffith, James S. 1978 Downtown with Your Eyes Open – Public Art in the Business District. The Arizona Daily Star 9 April:Supplement. Tucson, Arizona.
Heltsley, Ernie 1970 Design Center Formed to Aid City Poor. The Arizona Daily Star 10 October:B.1. Tucson, Arizona.
Herscher, Andrew 2020 Black and Blight. In Race and Modern Architecture, edited by Irene Cheng, Charles L. Davis II, and Mabel O. Wilson, pp. 291-307. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Kay, Jane 1977 The patient come first at this clinic. The Arizona Daily Star 23 June:17. Tucson, Arizona. 1976 Barren Prison Yard… Blazes with Inmate Art. The Arizona Daily Star 14 November:F.1. Tucson, Arizona
Kuerlthau, Margaret 1971 Papago Spirit Now Guards Sells School. Tucson Daily Citizen 15 May:2. Tucson, Arizona.
Lewis, Harry 1971a New Presidio Park Fountain. The Arizona Daily Star 8 May:B.1. Tucson, Arizona. 1971b El Presidio Art. The Arizona Daily Star 22 July:C.3. Tucson, Arizona.
Low, Setha M. 1995 Indigenous Architecture and the Spanish American Plaza in Mesoamerican and the Caribbean. American Anthropologist 97(4):748-762.
Matthews, Gil 1969 In the Park: Which of These Art Works of Art? Tucson Daily Citizen 28 June:1. Tucson, Arizona.
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
McCune, Cathryn 1970 Work on Presidio Park Fountain Pushed by Designer and Sculptor. Arizona Daily Star 18 December:B.4. Tucson, Arizona.
Messina, John 2005 Architecture and Urbanism of the Primería Alta during the Periods of Spanish Colonization and Mexican Independence, 1692-1854. In Cross-Cultural Vernacular Landscapes of Southern Arizona, edited by Laura H. Hollengreen and R. Brooks Jeffery, pp. 27-43. Vernacular Architectural Forum, Tucson.
Montiel, Albert 1969 A Disappointment to this Committee [Letters to the Editor]. Tucson Daily Citizen 8 July:22. Tucson, Arizona.
Nequette, Anne M., and R. Brooks Jeffery 2002 A Guide to Tucson Architecture. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.
Otero, Lydia R. 2010 La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwest City. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona
Pavillard, Dan 1966 Nebraska Leaning on Tucson Building. Tucson Daily Citizen 24 November:55. Tucson, Arizona. 1971 An Old Park Receives a New Lease on Life. ¡Ole! [Tucson Daily Citizen Magazine] 22 May:6-7. Tucson, Arizona.
Regan, Margaret 1997 There Goes the Neighborhood. Tucson Weekly March 6. Tucson. https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/03-06-97/cover.htm, accessed December 16, 2020.
Sanborn Map Company 1909 Tucson, Pima Co., Ariz. Sanborn Map Company, New York. 1919 Insurance Maps of Tucson, Arizona. Sanborn Map Company, New York. 1919-1949 Insurance Maps of Tucson, Arizona. Sanborn Map Company, New York.
Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited 1883 Tucson, Arizona. Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited, New York. 1886 Tucson, Arizona. Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited, New York. 1889 Tucson, Arizona. Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited, New York.
Sanborn-Perris Map Co. Limited 1896 Tucson, Arizona. Sanborn-Perris Map Co. Limited, New York. 1901 Tucson, Pima County, Arizona. Sanborn-Perris Map Co. Limited, New York.
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Sheridan, Thomas E. 1992 Los Tucsonenses. 2nd ed. The University of Arizona Press, New York & London. 2012 Arizona: A History. Rev. ed. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Streetman, Burgin 2009 Dr. Goat, Charles Clement & The Wonderful Art of Immortality. Vintage kids’ books my kid loves [blog], November 23. http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/2009/10/dr-goat-charles-clement- wonderful-art.html, accessed December 17, 2020.
Thiel, Homer 2018 Four Buildings, Six Executions, and a Fountain: The Courthouses of Pima County. Desert Archaeology, Inc. (blog), October 24. https://desert.com/courthouses/, accessed December 9, 2020.
Trinity Presbyterian Church n.d. History. Trinity Presbyterian Church (website), http://trinitytucson.org/who-we- are/history/, accessed December 15, 2020.
Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation n.d.a Bernard J. Friedman | 1916 – 2012. Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation (website), n.d. https://preservetucson.org/stories/bernard-j-friedman-1916-2012/, accessed December 16, 2020. n.d.b Blanton and Cold | 1909 – 1981. Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation (website), n.d. https://preservetucson.org/stories/blanton-and-cole-architects/, accessed December 16, 2020. n.d.c Charles Clement | 1921 – 1981. Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation (website), n.d. https://preservetucson.org/stories/charles-alfred-clement-1921-1981/, accessed December 16, 2020. n.d.d Terrence “Terry” Cloney Atkinson | 1915 – 1983. Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation (website), n.d. https://preservetucson.org/stories/terrence-terry-cloney- atkinson-1915-1983/, accessed December 16, 2020.
Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission 2020 Minutes, Wednesday, September 23, 2020. Meeting Minutes, Task Force on Inclusivity Regarding the Naming of City- and County-Owned Buildings and Properties, Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission, Tucson-Pima County, Arizona. https://www.tucsonaz.gov/files/clerks/uploads/bccfiles/31554.pdf, accessed January 20, 2021.
Turner, Tom 1970 Parking Garage Also Provides Bomb Shelter. The Arizona Daily Star 22 October:B.1. Tucson, Arizona.
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El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State Van Slyck, Abigail 1998 What the Bishop Learned: The Importance of Claiming Space at Tucson’s Church Plaza. The Journal of Arizona History 39(2):121-149.
Varn, Eugene G. 1971 Foliage Scarce at New Park. Tucson Daily Citizen 17 April:2. Tucson, Arizona.
Veregge, Nina 2005 Transformations of Spanish Urban Landscapes in the American Southwest, 1821- 1900. Journal of the Southwest 35(4):371-459.
Williams, James A. 2011 To Transform the Inner City: Tucson’s Model Cities Program, 1969-1975. The Journal of Arizona History 52(2):143-168.
______
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested previously listed in the National Register previously determined eligible by the National Register designated a National Historic Landmark recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey #
Primary location of additional data: State Historic Preservation Office Other State agency Federal agency x Local government University Other Name of repository:
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): N/A
______10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property .05 acres (2,215 sq. ft)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State UTM References Datum (indicated on USGS map):
NAD 1927 or x NAD 1983
1. Zone: 12 S Easting: 502460 m E Northing: 3565144 m N 2. Zone: 12 S Easting: 502477 m E Northing: 3565137 m N 3. Zone: 12 S Easting: 502482 m E Northing: 3565126 m N 4. Zone: 12 S Easting: 502465 m E Northing: 3565122 m N
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.) The property is limited to the footprint of the El Presidio Fountain within El Presidio Park, Pueblo Center Block 503, Lot 5, Tucson, Arizona
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.) The boundary is determined by the extent of the object’s footprint and does not include the surrounding park. The rest of the park is currently undergoing significant changes, most notably the construction of the large-scale January 8th Memorial honoring those victims of the mass shooting that took place in Tucson on January 8th, 2011. The memorial is located directly between the east side of the fountain and the former Pima County Courthouse. The rest of the park to the west will remain unchanged except some de-accessioning of public art and its replacement with other, smaller-scale memorials.
______11. Form Prepared By
name/title: Prepared by Langston Emerson Guettinger (Logan Simpson) and Cannon Daughtrey (Pima County Office of Conservation and Sustainability). Edited by Jennifer Levstik (Logan Simpson) organization: Logan Simpson street & number: 177 N. Church Ave, Ste. 607 city or town: Tucson state: Arizona zip code: 85719 e-mail: [email protected] telephone: (520) 884-5500 date: January, 2021 [DRAFT]
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Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
• Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. See below
• Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to this map. See below
• Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)
Photographs Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels (minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every photograph.
Photo Log
Name of Property: El Presidio Fountain
City or Vicinity: Tucson
County: Pima County State: Arizona
AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0001 through AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0005
Photographer: Jennifer Levstik
Date Photographed: October 20, 2020
AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0006 through AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0012
Photographer: Cannon Daughtrey
Date Photographed: May 7, 2020
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera:
1 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0001 2 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0002
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State 3 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0003 4 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0004 5 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0005 6 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0006 7 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0007 8 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0008 9 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0009 10 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0010 11 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0011 12 of 12. AZPimaCounty_ElPresidioFountain_0012
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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 56. Aerial image showing photographs for all official images of fountain.
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 57. Plan for El Presidio Fountain “Fountain ‘A.” Maps and Records, Department of Transportation, City of Tucson. “Fountain ‘A’ & Details,” 1968. Drawn by T.J.P. & H.P.
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No. 1024-0018
El Presidio Fountain Pima County, AZ Name of Property County and State
Figure 58. Plan for El Presidio Fountain “Fountain ‘A.” Maps and Records, Department of Transportation, City of Tucson. “Fountain ‘A’ Structural,” 1968. Drawn by H.P.