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 Location Street & number: El Presidio Park, 165 W. Alameda St. City or town: Tucson State: Arizona County: Pima Not For Publication: Vicinity: ____________________________________________________________________________ 3.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 1 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 Sections 1-6 page 2 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 Section 7 page 3 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 Section 7 page 4 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