Phoenix 1975 — a city of Builders

The growth of Phoenix has always depended upon builders and reclamation. Utilizing the ancient Hohokam Indians' legacy of canal remnants, early settlers developed an intricate irrigation system complete with brush dams through which barren desert acres were reclaimed for cultivation.

As an oasis sprang forth in the Salt River Valley, Phoenicians built sturdy giants such as Roosevelt Dam to further harness the Salt River and assure a life-giving supply of water to the Valley.

Pioneers of another era supplied a vital breath of life with the construction of two mighty U.S. Air Force bases during World War II. This sparked the great post-war Phoenix population boom, and the need for a different type of reclamation.

The builders were busy. Now industry and housing developments reclaimed farmland, and from this metamorphic stage emerged a thriving metropolis.

In 1970 Phoenix and and its satellite atellite cities boasted a population of 969,425. Planners scram bled to keep pace with the influx of new residents to the Valley of the Sun. By mid-1974 this area's population had jumped to 1,173,000 a 21 percent increase from 1970. According to Valley National Bank statistics, the 1975 Maricopa County population forecast is 1,211,000, more than half of the state's population.

Five years ago, using their unique brand of computerized pioneer spirit, city planners and builders began to forge ahead in a never-ending race to catch up with tomorrow. Busy replacing and building anew, they entered another realm of reclamation urban renewal.

Plans for the Phoenix Civic Plaza served as a catalyst for massive building activity. Since 1970 more than $200 million of public and private funds have helped turn that dream into a reality.

Leading the first phase of revitalization, First National Bank of Arizona opened its 27-story, $25 million building in October, 1971. The First National Bank Plaza facility at First Avenue and Washington features professional office space, a landscaped mall and connected pavilion. Two seven-story parking garages offer shelter to more than 1,300 vehicles.

That was also the year of the $10 million expansion of The Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette newspaper complex. The three-story building received an extensive interior and exterior facelifting which included the installation of new press units and the addition of a patio area.

An historic day was reached in October, 1972, when the $26 million Phoenix Civic Plaza opened. Encompassing six square blocks, this modem convention center and cultural complex is equipped to handle 10,000 people. Its completion served to accelerate the flourishing rebirth of downtown Phoenix with the promise of major convention business.

In the Spring of 1973, Valley National Bank opened the Valley Bank Center, a $60 million 40-story facility including a high-rise garage for 1,700 automobiles.

During the last year and a half, the tapping, sawing sounds of builders have echoed almost daily from the cement faces of man-made canyons. When these sounds fade, a four-block area will proudly display two major hotels, a public parking garage and a bank.

The Arizona Bank's statewide headquarters will be housed in the second tallest building in Arizona, upon completion of its new 31-story facility in in 1976. Both the 20-story Hyatt Regency Phoenix and The Adams Hotel, a 19-story structure, will be fully operational in time for the winter tourist season. Filling the two square blocks just West of Phoenix Civic Plaza, the hotels will offer a total of 1,258 rooms.

Perhaps more than any of the new downtown buildings The Adams symbolizes the vibrant spirit of the mythical Phoenix bird, for which the city was named.

It is apparently as hardy as the desert itself. The original Adams Hotel was built in 1897. It soon became the center of Phoenix activity with stagecoach trips beginning and ending at its door. A fire destroyed the wooden building in 1910, but a second Adams rose from the ashes in time for the 1912 celebration of Arizona statehood.

"Meet you at the Adams" became an everyday phrase for businessmen, politicians, cattlemen, mining tycoons and touring entertainers. Via stagecoach and streetcar, the great and humble came to enjoy her western hospitality and play their part in Arizona history.

Bowing to age, this gracious lady made a proud and spectacular exit in August, 1973. No sooner had the dust from the implosion cleared, than a new hotel began to rise on the now famous corner of Central and Adams.

Already dubbed an "historic site" by the Arizona Historical Society, the new Adams is a blend of contemporary and traditional architecture. Southwestern flavor pervades the 19story building which features brick walkways beneath covered arcades, graceful arched windows and modern luxury.

It is the first major downtown Phoenix hotel built in the last 50 years.

Though travelers now arrive by auto rather than streetcar or stagecoach, The Adams remains in the center of the city's business, legal, governmental and cultural life.

It was once said that more laws were made at The Adams than at the statehouse. But the new hotel may not be able to continue that claim, for during the past five years a $50 million expansion and facelifting program has been underway at the State Capitol complex in Phoenix.

In 1966, when the first space planning study was made, the governmental facility encompassed 19 acres. Now it occupies 110 acres. Following a capitol complex master plan prepared by the noted John Carl Warnecke of San Francisco, Calif., construction began in 1969; to date seven buildings have been completed, two are currently under construction and two more are on the drawing boards.

New structures are: the West Wing of the capitol building, which now houses the administrative and judicial branches of state government; buildings of commerce, health, education, occupational licensing and a combined State Highway Department administrative and engineering building.

Currently under construction is a motor vehicle division building and a large structure housing a health laboratory and state data processing computer center. A record retention center and economic security building are in the planning stage, as is a plaza which will cover an 11-acre area in front of the old statehouse.

All existing buildings in the capitol complex have undergone major renovation within the past five years, with all overhead utility lines being placed underground. A $1 million restoration of the original state capitol building began late last year. The 74-year-old statehouse, in the center of the state capitol complex, will be converted into a museum of government and a tourist attraction.

All this building activity has been in accordance with a coordinated effort between city, county, state and Federal planners who are playing an important part in the revitalization of downtown Phoenix. It will dovetail with a multi-million-dollar governmental mall that will eventually stretch more than a mile from existing city and county offices to the state capitol complex.

Situated in the middle of that corridor is the just-completed $5.8 million Police and Public Safety Building. The four-story structure also houses administrative offices for several city functions. A new $30 million Federal building is destined to take its place in this governmental corridor in the near future.

The new life blood being pumped into the heart of downtown Phoenix is also flowing down its main artery, the central corridor. Stretching North from Washington to Camelback, and from Seventh Avenue to Seventh Street, this is the city's prestigious high-rise zone and core of the financial and business community. Within the past year alone, 25 different buildings have been in various stages of completion there.

This array of architecture features primarily office buildings and financial facilities such as the $11 million Southeru Arizona Bank Plaza and the 14-story Arizona Bank Midtown Building.

Another addition to the area is Bell Plaza, a ten-floor tower of shimmering reflective glass, which houses the administrative offices of Mountain Bell. In downtown Phoenix the telephone company has also completed the first three floors of its 15-story Phoenix Metropolitan Area Operating and Equipment Building.

"Although these high-rise buildings seem to be completed with amazing speed, each one represents years of planning," says Dick Booth, president of the Arizona Building Owners and Managers Association (representing 85 percent of all Phoenix high-rise buildings).

"We have flexibility through use of new metals which have added strength to modern architecture. This allows us to build

taller, staggered buildings which make good use of setbacks, allowing air movement and sunlight to nourish ground-level landscaping, as well as provide a spacious atmosphere," he adds.

Flanking the many new towers on Central Avenue are a number of new medical office complexes. These are indicative of the expansion of medical services throughout the Valley. Maricopa County has approximately 1,400 doctors and the number is increasing at a rate of one hundred each year.

In striving to meet the medical needs of its booming popu-lation, Phoenix has succeeded in becoming a regional center of sophisticated health care. Highly technical treatments and operations previously referred to noted West or East coast hospitals are now being done at one or more of the Valley's 28 hospitals. Modern cobalt units, laser machines, diagnostic ultrasound and an assortment of other technological advances are used by major hospitals in treatment of cancer and dis-eases of the eye, heart, kidney, lungs and other vital organs.

The Valley now has 1,221 more hospital beds available than in 1970. This is due to the expansion of existing facilities and the addition of two new ones: Walter O. Boswell Memorial Hospital in Sun City, and Desert Samaritan Hospital in Mesa. The current expansion of four Valley hospitals will help meet future needs.

Better medically equipped than other U.S. areas of comparable size, Phoenix offers a broad range of specialized hospital care, education and research. Extensive centers for the treatment of heart, kidney and respiratory ailments have been established at both Good Samaritan Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center. The famed Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's has added a spinal cord injury research center; Maricopa County Hospital is noted for its burn unit, and Boswell Memorial is a national leader in geriatric care and research.

Long noted for its pioneering work in the heart field, St. Luke's Hospital now offers expert eye surgery at its Ophthalmology Institute and has developed major treatment centers for alcoholism and drug addiction. The newly constructed Phoenix Indian Hospital is developing a unique obesity research program; Memorial Hospital features extensive family-centered maternity care, and Phoenix General has become the largest osteopathic teaching hospital in the Southwest.

Freestanding outpatient surgical facilities such as those at Scottsdale Memorial and Phoenix Baptist hospitals have succeeded in sizably reducing the expense of surgical care.

Last year, through Arizona's Air Evac program, 539 injured or critically ill patients were flown to major Phoenix hospitals from isolated Arizona locations; 254 of these were newborn babies.

Air travel has long played a vital role in the life of Phoenix. Year 'round sunny skies and excellent flying weather make the Valley a haven for air-related industry as well as a growing number of private aircraft. Economic impact from its two U.S. Air Force bases (Williams and Luke) has soared to a combined annual total of $163 million.

Sky Harbor International Airport is the largest medium-hub airport in the nation, with nine airlines providing 110 incoming flights daily.

In 1970, incoming airport passengers for the year totalled 2,800,000; by the end of 1974 the annual figure reached 3,962,000. In an effort to keep facilities current with increasing needs, Sky Harbor is in the midst of a massive expansion program. Recent construction includes a $367,000 Crash Fire Rescue Station and a $1.75 million air cargo terminal. Construction of the latter facility was necessitated by a 28 percent increase in air freight activities during 1973, totaling 88.5 million pounds processed at the airport that year.

Satellite airports at Deer Valley and Litchfield Park are also expanding as are Scottsdale and other community airports throughout the Valley. Largest current project is a $5.2 million plan to completely rebuild Phoenix Deer Valley Municipal Airport.

An airborne traveler visiting the Phoenix of 1975 can see that five years have brought many changes to the face of the Valley. The multitude of new subdivisions, swimming pools, highrise buildings, tennis courts and shopping centers mingles with an advancing network of fine wrinkles, called bike paths.

These blend with new cultural beauty marks such as the Phoenix Civic Plaza, bringing fresh charm to an-already-great lady.

She is a vast metropolis, sprawling over the Valley floor and pushing into the foothills of nearby mountains. Her increasing number of hotels, resorts, restaurants, recreation and cultural facilities merge with the spectacular desert scenery and climate to lure thousands of tourists annually.

It's estimated that more than five million travelers visit Phoenix and its environs each year. Having increased 78 per-cent from 1970, the year 'round tourist industry now adds a whopping $345 million to the Valley economy and gener-ates plenty of western hospitality!

A healthy percentage of Phoenix tourism is generated by conventions. Valley of the Sun Convention Bureau statistics show a 12-15 percent annual increase in convention business.

In 1970, 275 conventions brought 104,000 delegates and $16,700,000 to the Valley. Last year the Phoenix area hosted 886 conventions with 171,000 delegates which contributed $33,900,000 to the economy.

More delegates bring their spouses to Phoenix conventions rather than to those in other major cities. Attracted by the warm climate, friendly people and modern facilities, conventioneers linger longer in Phoenix sunshine and contribute a daily average of $50 which turns over 12 times in local business.

With the advent of Phoenix Civic Plaza, new high-rise hotels, and the modernization of others such as the Arizona. Biltmore, San Carlos and Los Olivos hotels, experts believe Phoenix is on the brink of becoming the convention capital of the West. Bookings are scheduled as far ahead as 1983.

This convention prospect has sparked much of the downtown building activity, including the $2.5 million transportation terminals constructed by Greyhound and Continental Bus Lines across the street from the Plaza.

Complete with bubbling fountains, deep pools and outstanding sculpture, Phoenix Civic Plaza has hosted trade shows and a wide variety of theatrical and musical entertainment including popular concerts by the Phoenix Symphony.

Featuring a 2,600-seat symphony hall, 6,500-seat exhibition hall, 4,000-seat multi-purpose assembly hall and numerous smaller meeting facilities, this complex is luring bigger and better conventions to the Valley.

According to Edward J. Allen, Plaza director, 30 conventions are already booked between now and 1980. The largest to date is scheduled for October when the National Sporting Goods Convention will bring 10,000 people to Phoenix.

What better place for recreation-minded visitors? Within the Valley of the Sun one can golf, swim, ice skate, ride horse-back, surf, bowl, fish, shoot trap and skeet, play tennis, hunt, enjoy bicycling, camping, mountain climbing and a wide assortment of water sports year 'round.

Although Phoenix has long been recreation oriented, within the past five years the nation-wide tennis craze has smashed into the Valley with powerful force. A growing number of tennis courts have sprung up with new hotels, clustered homes, townhouses, apartments and parks. Existing tennis facilities in the Phoenix area have expanded to meet growing demands.