"Saguaro Gateway" photo: david olsen
In the middle of the last century, the car was king and so were the neon signs that attracted and welcomed automotive travelers. Locally, Miracle Mile, Oracle Road and Drachman Street were collectively known as Tucson’s Miracle Mile Strip. According to the Gateway Business Alliance’s website, it was the main thoroughfare for vehicular traffic “into the city from the north and a crossroads for those traversing the nation on Routes 80 and 89. More importantly, it was an arterial corridor that fostered economic development.”
In recent years, businesses along the corridor and the City of Tucson have come together to preserve the historic district through the Oracle Area Revitalization Plan and the Gateway Business Alliance. Several events in April celebrate the district’s past and embrace its present and future endeavors.
Gateway Saguaro Lighting Ceremony
No revitalization effort is complete without public art and Tucson’s Historic Miracle Mile can check that one off its list. In February, a 30 foot neon saguaro sculpture, one of the finishing touches of the Oracle/Main/Drachman intersection improvement project, was installed in the Oracle Road median just north of Drachman Street.
Designed by Dirk Arnold and fabricated by Tucson’s Cook and Company Signmakers, the sculpture was illuminated in a lighting ceremony on Monday, April 5 from 6:15 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Arnold, who was chosen through the Tucson Pima Arts Council’s competitive process, said, “My work was inspired by the original Miracle Mile’s mid-20th century heyday with its neon signs, motor courts and restaurants lining the primary motor route into and out of Tucson.”
The public art selection and installation also involved collaborative efforts between the City of Tucson’s Oracle Area Revitalization Plan (OARP), Ward III and the City of Tucson Department of Transportation.
The lighting event began at College Place, 1601 N. Oracle Rd. Visit EndangeredArchitecture.com for more details.
3rd Annual Historic Miracle Mile Festival
The Gateway Business Alliance is hosting a free event on Saturday, April 24 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. to celebrate the area’s history via presentations and tours of selected sites, along with a street fair that includes live music, local artists and vendors.
Susan Alexander of the Tucson Artists Colony is spearheading the plein (outdoor) art element of the' event and said via email that the juried artists’ “paintings will be hung in one of the ballrooms at College Place. We will invite the juried artists to hang up to 3 studio paintings on Thursday evening and then they can submit up to 3 plein air paintings done during the event. The judging will take place on Saturday, Phil Starke is the judge; the fine art reception and sale will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday evening.”
According to the art prospectus, 20% of the sales will benefit the Gateway Business Alliance.
The event is centered at the corner of Drachman Street and Oracle Road with College Place, 1601 N. Oracle Rd., hosting classic cars and bikes along with historic presentations. It also includes mariachis, children’s activities, Yaqui mask carving, folklorico dancing and a fashion show by the Arizona Voodoo Kittens.
Visit CelebrateHistoricTucson.com or call 762-6900 for more information.
Under The Neon Stars
On Friday, April 30 a Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation fundraiser takes place at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., to aid in raising $30,000 to restore neon signs salvaged from Magic Carpet Golf, Medina Sporting Goods and the Arizonan Motel. The cost is about $10,000 to refurbish and reinstall each sign - classic examples of 50s and 60s nostalgic Americana.
"These signs are part of the character of our city,” said Demion Clinco, Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation’s President. “They were a roadside expression of Tucson’s thriving mid-century modern past. The flickering nocturnal environment attracted people from the highway into Tucson and restoring these signs could lead to the revitalization of this gateway corridor to Downtown,” he said. “Turn on the lights and people will come.”'
The $125 per person event starts at 6:30 p.m. with a jazz and cocktail reception on the roof, dinner in the Copper Room, a silent auction and an exhibition of artwork by Lucy Masterman and Dirk Arnold.
For tickets call 392-1086; visit TucsonHistoricPreservationFoundation.org.
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