EXPLORER NEWS: Weds., Aug. 22, 2007
Volunteers provided Steam Pump stabilization
Maybe it wasn’t a miracle, but the town of Oro Valley got something close to it in the scramble to keep Steam Pump Ranch on the path toward historic preservation.
In May, the town was wrapping up the deal to buy the 133-year-old ranch site from developers who would have torn down the buildings for creation of a commercial nodule. But one immediate worry lay ahead — southern Arizona’s monsoon season, the summer rains that show up when they feel like it, that sometimes shower us and other times hammer us mercilessly.
So that there would be something left for posterity, some of the older buildings – including the original ranch house and the pump house — needed protection before this season’s rains arrived. Water damage and deterioration had already begun on several structures, and it was a matter of making sure that problems could be contained.
The normal workings of government – develop plans, create construction estimates, call for bids and find contractors who would meet the specs -- would have taken too long.
Enter the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, which rounded up volunteers who got out there to get the job done.
The town, which bought the construction materials, got special assists from Gradybilt Design, Ralph Hays Roofing, Lee Hoffman Roofing, Johnson Manley Lumber and Tricon Contracting. Together they got the work done just ahead of what’s been a heavy monsoon season. And that was a great reason for the community to celebrate last week.
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