6th St. merchants disagree on UA expansion

"It's a conspiracy against Sixth Street," said Tony Francis, co-owner of Twelve Tribes Records and Sound, 1133 E. Sixth St.

But Karen Ullery, owner of Swim Southwest, 1041 E. Sixth St., said, "I think they (the University of Arizona) are doing everything they possibly can to take the merchants into consideration."

The new building at the northeast corner of North Park Avenue and East Sixth Street is the first installment of the UA's Environmental and Natural Resources Complex Project Development Plan, published in July 1994. The plan shows a multi-phase project that will place federal agencies and related UA instructional and research programs in the same complex.

An $11 million congressional appropriation funded the new building, the plan states.

The UA's development plan outlines proposals for development along Sixth Street between Park Avenue and North Campbell Avenue. The plan focuses on the first few stages of the Natural Resources Complex proposal and concentrates on development of the north side of Sixth Street.

Denise Hamrick, travel consultant for Campus Travel, 1010 E. Sixth St., said her company has heard little of the university's plans to develop the area.

When Hamrick saw the development plan she said, "'Huh?' - that is our reaction."

Mike Corona, another travel consultant for Campus Travel, said development on the north side of the street has merchants wondering when it will spread to the south side. Campus Travel is located on the south side of Sixth Street.

"We're not going to be affected for another 10 years as far as I know," said Bella Schroder, another consultant at Campus Travel. "All the buildings on the north side are going to go first."

The United States Geological Survey will also occupy space in the recently-constructed building, said Mark Gettings, acting scientist in charge for the USGS Tucson Field Office. He said the group is "still in the process of moving in."

The geological survey also is leasing part of UA Lot 7103, a fenced parking lot at the southeast corner of East Seventh Street and Park Avenue.

The university gave the space to the USGS for parking the agency's trucks, Gettings said. He said a fence was needed because some vehicles house expensive instruments.

Marlis Davis, director of parking and transportation, said 38 spaces are leased to USGS so that federal vehicles can park in the fenced lot.

She said the space is a small percentage of the lot's 340 Zone 1 spaces and that new parking is being added along Sixth Street in different places.

"We have added way more spaces than the USGS has taken away," Davis said.

However, the merchants still feel there is not enough parking in the area.

"The major issue right now is parking," Ullery said. "I have people call me and say 'I couldn't find a parking space so I went somewhere else.'"

Francis also said parking is definitely a problem.

The UA's plan shows proposals to relocate area businesses that will be affected by the project.

Alternatives to demolishing the buildings include incorporating the buildings into the university's plans or moving the buildings altogether, the plan states.

The plan's fifth alternative is to "demolish all structures within the survey area." It is deemed "the least attractive alternative."

The plan's conclusion states, "Every effort should be made to maintain this relationship of scale and architectural characteristics by studying the development of both sides of Sixth Street as a comprehensive, unified whole.

"While it is the opinion of the researchers that every structure has a theoretical 'right' to continue its useful economic life, in reality, some structures have not been properly maintained or are so completely altered that their original integrity is lost."

Dave Ellis, head of the Sixth Street Merchants' Association and owner of Zachary's Pizza, 1019 E. Sixth St., could not be reached for comment yesterday.