National Public Works Week is May 20-26, and Town of Marana is going to celebrate it in a whole new way.
On Friday, May 25 at the Marana Heritage River Park, the town is hosting the first Marana Macro Machines event, which will let children of all ages interact with the machines that service the Town’s infrastructure and many projects.
“The activities will celebrate the contributions of Town employees as well as the community we serve,” said Marana Public Works Director Mo El-Ali. “Our objective is to increase awareness of the duties, practices, and goals of public works employees.”
Although the event catchphrase entices attendees to come “see what makes Pubic Works work,” the event is more than just the Public Works Department.
“Public works employees include those who manage streets, traffic, water, sewer, public buildings, fleet, and parks,” El-Ali said. “They are the people who maintain and improve the systems and services vital to our community’s health, safety and comfort.”
The event will feature department and divisions from the town, including Streets, traffic, facilities, fleet, pavement preservation, engineering, police, water and parks and recreation, and will be a great opportunity for town employees to interact with the residents of Marana and provide educational entertainment for both children and the young at heart.
“It has been our experience that many in our community do not know exactly what the different departments in our town do.” said Public Works Superintendent Rob Grimaldo. “Most might never consider what it takes to repair a road, provide clean water, install a sign, or build infrastructure.
“We may see town vehicles on the roads, see employees hard at work, but never really thinks ‘what are they doing?’ or ‘how does that work?’”
Marana Macro Machines is a chance to learn about the machines the town uses every day and meet the people who get to use them.
“We want people to come out and view the equipment and see all the cool vehicles and tools at our disposal,” said Public Works Executive Assistant Jessica Archuleta, who is planning event logistics.
Attendees can expect to see a wide variety of vehicles including a sweeper, loader, blade, striping truck, landscape truck and trailer, fire truck, police squad cars and the ARAN Road Analyzer Van.
In addition to static displays, the Marana Water Department will demonstrate the water purification process, the Marana Police Department will have squad cars demo and the Public Works Department will provide a demonstration on how traffic signals work.
Northwest Firefighters-Local 3572 is partnering with the Town of Marana and will be providing hot dogs and hamburgers.
“We look forward to interacting with the public, explaining the services we provide, and answering questions about what we do and how we do it,” said El-Ali. “This is a great way for our employees to get out and meet the public that they serve and showcase some of the great projects we have completed.”
Marana Heritage River Park is located at 12375 N. Heritage Park Drive. The event will take place from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Mo El-Ali, Jessica Archuleta, and Robert Grimaldo of the Marana Public Works Department contributed to this article.
