Posts Tagged ‘Ramada Inn’

October 05, 2010

Tom Simplot on the Impact of the Reversible Lanes on the Central Core and More

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet A few weeks ago I spoke with Councilman Tom Simplot, the councilman for District 4 in Phoenix. There is a possibility that Councilman Simplot may run for mayor in 2011, but he did not confirm one way or another during our interview. He did, however, answer questions about many of the things we find important at Blooming Rock such as historic preservation, sustainability, growth and the reversible lanes. Below is our conversation: Blooming Rock: Are you running for mayor? Councilman Simplot: I’ll tell you right now, no one should be saying definitively if they are running for mayor because…

August 27, 2010

10 Things You Should Know about the Upcoming Parking Lot at the Sahara Hotel

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet 1. The City used funds from the Downtown Phoenix Hotel Corporation to buy the Sahara building. Apparently part of this deal was the temporary use of the site as a parking lot for the Sheraton Hotel. This is the “done deal” City Manager David Cavazos was talking about. 2. When several community members suggested the lot become a park or a green space, Jeremy Legg, the City applicant for the parking use permit, mentioned the Civic Space Park is just a block away. Wait, so we can have TOO MANY green spaces, but never enough parking lots? 3. The…

August 09, 2010

Saving the Sahara: Calling the Community to Undo a “Done Deal”

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet According to the Arizona Republic article today by Emily Gersema, Ramada Inn in Downtown Phoenix Days from Demolition, the $700,000 demolition of the old Sahara Hotel, currently a defunct Ramada Inn, is scheduled to happen later this month. Before we go into why this building is important and why it’s worth saving, let’s first visit the reason why it’s being demolished: The City of Phoenix is planning a $700,000 demolition to make room for overflow parking for the Sheraton Downtown Hotel while there are loads of empty lots all around downtown that would work just as well, not to…