Valley of the Moon Historic Landmark Designation

 

From: Zack Jarrett [mailto:zack@zackswagon.com]
Sent: Monday, February 2, 2015 2:09 PM
Subject: Valley of the Moon Historic Landmark Designation

 

My name is Zack Jarrett. I am President of the Board of Directors at Valley of the Moon. 

 

Valley of the Moon is seeking to be designated a Tucson Historic Landmark. If we succeed we will be the first new Tucson Historic Landmark in twenty years! We hope to be in the company of Tucson's five other historic landmarks: 1) the El Con water tower; 2) El Tiradito shrine; 3) San Pedro Chapel; 4) the Cannon-Douglass House; and, 5) the Smith House.

 

You can read about those here at the below link, but there hasn't been a new Historic Landmark in twenty years!

http://www.tucsonaz.gov/preservation/city-historic-landmarks

 

We are working with the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation (THPF), https://preservetucson.org, to accomplish this designation. THPF and Demion Clinco in particular were instrumental in getting Valley of the Moon listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now they are working on the Tucson Historic Landmark designation.

 

This Historic Landmark status is important because it codifies protection of Valley of the Moon into a zoning overlay. The zoning overlay is effectuated by an act of Mayor and Council and protects Valley of the Moon from any future development that would harm the historic nature of the park. If, for example, the non-profit that operates Valley of the Moon (The George Phar Legler Society) were to fail the property would undoubtedly be sold to a developer, who would in turn undoubtedly raze the fanciful structures and build houses or apartments on the site. The Historic Landmark designation protects the site for future generations, no matter who owns it.

 

Valley of the Moon thinks this is an important action that will protect the park for generations to come. People have been visiting Valley of the Moon since 1932 and we hope they can still be visiting in another 83 years.

 

We are approaching an important milestone in this project: the zoning examiner meeting. The public meeting is being held February 5th, 2015, in the Mayor and Council offices at 6:30. I think this would be a great story for the organization to cover, especially given how many people's lives Valley of the Moon has touched over the years.

 

Please feel free to contact me for any reason. I can be reached by cell at 520-837-9931 or by email to my personal address: zack@zackswagon.com.

 

Thank you very much. I hope you consider running this story. Valley of the Moon is an important part of Tucson's cultural heritage and deserves to be protected.

 

Best Regards,

Zack Jarrett

President, Valley of the Moon

 

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