By
Lora J. Mackel
Rio Nuevo development projects shimmer like the fabled El Dorado in the minds of a few of its eager planners. As they envision it, Rio Nuevo is the focal point of a city swimming in tourism gold. But can the "river" flow successfully in our desert, or is it just a mirage? If the project ever gets off the ground in the first place, success can only come if there is a cultural revolution in Tucson.
So, what is Rio Nuevo? Well, it's hard to tell, since ideas about the project shift from week to week. Currently, the project is a theoretical utopian cultural center replete with shops, museums, theaters and other edifying establishments.
In reality, Rio Nuevo is a pie-in-the-sky project with an ever-expanding scope and budget.
Decrying the lack of a city center in Tucson, the "river" dreamers imagined a sprawling complex nestled between the Tucson Convention Center and "A" Mountain. Their ideal world contains so many buildings and institutions that it is dizzying to imagine.
Included in recent Rio Nuevo complex plans was a trolley system linking a Sonoran Sea Aquarium, IMAX theater, historical society, children's museum, proposed cultural heritage center (whatever that means), new high-volume convention hotel, a rebuilt Tucson Convention Center and a myriad of retail shops. To enhance the complex, walkways lined with native trees would meander along the river's edge.
It sounds truly wonderful, idyllic in fact. Almost too good to be true - and that's because it is.
Rio Nuevo will never be as successful as projected for two reasons. First of all - and most important- there is not enough money to do everything they are proposing.
Secondly, the "if you build it, they will come" theory does not work in our sleepy little hacienda of a city.
To be fair, Rio Nuevo's planners worked with the city to set a reasonable budget. In July of 1999, the city council voted to give the project $80 million of publicly endorsed money, hoping that it would attract an additional $240 million from private investors. During that time, the city heard ideas about the shape and scope of the project in public meetings, and doled out the project to the Hunter Interests group for further review.
But it has been a year and a half since the budget was set, and Rio Nuevo is besieged with more ideas and more people every day - and the budget has grown to reflect that.
Tucson is a very slow town. It always has been and might always be. People do not indulge in the arts and institutions in the numbers that Rio Nuevo hopefuls are counting on. This is important, because to be successful, the development needs to have a steady flow of visitors - which it won't find in Tucson.
Take, for example, the Tucson Electric Park. Our city and private investors poured millions into the complex. Though it is chock-full of modern conveniences and diversions, the park is never full to capacity. Something drastic would have to change for Tucsonans to start going out to a new complex in droves.
There is nothing wrong with dreaming. However, there is an appropriate time for dreaming, as well as a time for actual planning.
As it stands, Rio Nuevo can be nothing but a dream. Its plans must be streamlined and simplified in order for it to succeed.
