Arizona State Fairgrounds
The Arizona State Fairgrounds is a permanent fairgrounds on McDowell Road,
The Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, an arena at the fairgrounds, hosted the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1968 to 1992. In 1992, the team moved to what is known today as Footprint Center.
The
History
The fairgrounds was created in 1905, when a volunteer organization, the Arizona Territorial Fair Association, purchased the property and first developed it.[1] At that time, Arizona was not yet a state and had territory status. In 1909, the grounds were purchased by the Territorial Fair Commission, which became the State Fair Commission after statehood in 1912.
Facilities
The fairgrounds site includes the following buildings:[2]
- The Modernist style 14,870-seat multipurpose indoor arena.[3]
- The Party Gras, originally the Gem and Mineral Building — a historic 4,176 sq.ft. building built in 1918 to showcase mineral specimens from Arizona's extensive mining industry. The building's interior has a vaulted beamed ceiling, and large skylight above a wrap-around balcony. It is the oldest building at the fairgrounds.[4]
- Grandstand — a 1936-1937 WPA demolition derbies.[6]
- WPA Administration Building, or the Civic Building — a historic 12,200 sq.ft. Works Projects Administration−WPA, serving as their headquarters for WPA projects in Arizona during the latter Great Depression years.[7]
- The Hacienda de Mexico — a 12,546 sq.ft. covered mall (located between the Wesley Bolin Building and the Home Arts Center).[8]
- The Home Arts Center — a 13,584 sq.ft. building.[9]
- The Agriculture Center — two building totaling 61,000 sq. ft. designed to accommodate large shows and exhibits, including livestock
- Wesley Bolin Building — an almost 20,000 sq.ft. exhibit space
- Arizona Plaza — a 17,184 sq.ft. adobe style complex.
- Exhibit Building — a 50,000 sq.ft. building used for large shows and commercial exhibits.
WPA Administration Building
The WPA Administration Building was completed in 1939 in the
Gallery
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This historic building was first known as the Gem and Mineral Building.
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The side wall of the Gem and Mineral Building
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Close up view of the Gem and Mineral Building
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Inside the Gem and Mineral Building
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The historic Arizona State Fair Grandstand
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Different view of the historic Arizona State Fair Grandstand
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The Arizona State Fair WPA Civic Building
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The front entrance of the Arizona State Fair WPA Civic Building
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The Arizona State Fair Home Economics Building was built in 1940
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Close up view of the Arizona State Fair Home Economics.
References
- ^ "Arizona State Fairgrounds". Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- ^ "Arizona Exposition & State Fair.com: Arizona Exposition & State Fair Facilities". Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- ^ Arizona Exposition & State Fair.com: Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
- ^ Arizona Exposition & State Fair.com: Party Gras building
- ^ Living New Deal Blog: Arizona State Fairgrounds Stadium and Art
- ^ Arizona Exposition & State Fair.com: Grandstand Arena
- ^ "Race to restore 1930s-era Phoenix sites from ruin". Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- ^ Arizona Exposition & State Fair.com: Hacienda De Mexico building
- ^ Arizona Exposition & State Fair.com: Home Arts Center building
- ^ a b Phoenix New Times: "Demolition of WPA Civic Building at Arizona State Fairgrounds on Temporary Hold", 18 July 2014.
- ^ Youtube.com: "1938 WPA Administration Building in 1949 & 1969"
- ^ KJZZ.org: "Did You Know: Arizona State Fairgrounds 110 Years Old", by Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez, 21 August 2015; with images of the WPA Grandstand and Administration Building.
- ^ "$200,000 to go toward preserving State Fairgrounds building". Retrieved April 10, 2016.