City Wraps up Sentinel Peak Improvements, Kicks off Tucson Birthday Month

by Amalia Otet, Associate Editor

Sentinel Peak Park, Tucson’s largest natural resource park, has undergone a series of important renovations and is now open to the public. The City contracted M. Anderson Construction and Wheat Scharf Associates Landscape Architects to perform the improvements completed as Phase I of a master plan approved in 2010 by the Mayor and Council. Trail work was provided by Southwest Conservation Corps youth crews.

“Sentinel Peak is an iconic place for Tucsonans – rich in history and open to everyone,” said Tucson Vice-Mayor Regina Romero. “We want people to bring their out-of-town guests to enjoy the views, stay to learn the history and go for a hike, and then go downtown, both the east and west sides, for fabulous food and entertainment.”

Held on Aug. 1, the “A” Mountain dedication ceremony kicked off festivities for Tucson’s birthday month. August is celebrating 4000 years of history in the Old Pueblo, originating at the base of Sentinel Peak. The City of Tucson was founded on Aug. 20, 1776.

Renovation highlights include:

• Parking: new bike parking and two new accessible spaces in the upper lot – per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA);

• Trailhead Plaza: A new plaza adjacent to the park’s upper parking lot to orient visitors, including colored/textured concrete seat walls, interpretive signage, trail map signage, bicycle parking, and benches (ADA accessible);

• Overlook Plazas: Two new overlook plazas with shade ramadas, concrete seatwalls and interpretive signs (ADA accessible);

• Trails: New path to connect the improvements, constructed of “XeriTec” paving, a stable, porous, colored natural rock paving system designed to blend with the geology of the site. (City Of Tucson)

The park could benefit from another $2.5 million in improvements if a Pima County bond proposal is approved by a bond advisory committee and voters in 2014.

In transaction news, Minneapolis-based Dominium has acquired Sahuarita Mission Apartments, a 52-unit affordable apartment community in Green Valley, southwest of Tucson, from Sahuarita Ridge Apartments of Chandler, an entity affiliated with the Arizona Community Action Program. The purchase price was $2.08 million or $40,000 per unit, according to the Real Estate Daily News.

Located at 1091 West Beta Street, Mission Apartments offers two- and three-bedroom units with fully equipped kitchens. Common amenities include a playground, scenic picnic area and clubhouse.