State, local officials kick off planning for Arizona centennial

Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX—State leaders, local officials and representatives of historical societies met Thursday to encourage all communities to develop plans for celebrating Arizona’s centennial in 2012.

“Arizona has such a wealth of nature and history, from the Grand Canyon to Saguaro National Park to historical towns like Tombstone and Bisbee,” said Senate President Timothy S. Bee, R-Tucson. “All should use this opportunity to highlight what Arizona has.”

Arizona became the 48th state on Feb. 14, 1912, and is sometimes referred to as the Valentine State.

The meeting at Arizona National Guard headquarters marked the start of a fundraising campaign to complement $2.5 million appropriated by the state Legislature last year for community planning and centennial projects.

The state appropriation is contingent upon communities raising another $5 million.

The state funds should help smaller communities in particular to showcase their historic points of interest, said House Speaker Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix.

“Larger cities will do just fine, but it is the small ones that should also be able to have those points of pride,” Weiers said.

Earlier this month, the Legislature approved a memorial urging each town, city and American Indian tribe to appoint a centennial committee to develop celebration plans.

The idea is to have each community start fundraising for local centennial projects, even if they haven’t been fully developed yet, said John Driggs, a member of the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission, which oversees the funding of centennial projects.

Florence Mayor Tom Rankin said he is excited to start planning.

“Florence is trying to put together a committee that addresses all the ethnicities, religions and history of Florence,” said Rankin, whose relatives lived in Arizona before statehood. “Being the fifth-oldest community in the state, there’s a lot of history down there, such as farming, ranching and gunfights.”

J. R. DeSpain, a Navajo County supervisor, said he hopes Winslow’s Brigham City, the remnants of a fort built by Mormon settlers in 1876, will be featured.

“Hopefully with centennial money we’ll be able to fix that area up a little bit and show people the heritage of one of the oldest settlements along the Little Colorado River,” DeSpain said.

Yuma is also focusing on historic restoration projects such as Pivot Point, part of the 1877 Swing Span Pivot Bridge where trains crossed the Colorado River, Mayor Larry Nelson said.

Another ongoing project is improving recreation and wildlife areas along the East Wetlands, where the Colorado and Gila rivers converge, Nelson said.

“We’ve got a lot of restoration plans, especially the Wetlands,” said Nelson, a native Arizonan. “Right now, we’re concentrating on Pivot Point and other areas down there.”

Melodee Jackson, representing Gov. Janet Napolitano, said legacy projects will show the treasures of Arizona.

“Arizona has the rare opportunity to undertake legacy projects that will send messages to a time we will not see,” Jackson said.

Cronkite News Service is as an intensive professional experience for advanced print and broadcast students in Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.