Marana looking for artist for roundabout

Deer statues on Tangerine Road.

The Town of Marana has been awarded grant funding through the Pima Association of Governments (PAG) Transportation Art by Youth (TABY) program to fund a public art project for the Downtown Marana/Marana Main Street Gateway. The Town is soliciting qualifications from artist for the design, construction, and installation of the public art project. The Artist will work with the Town’s representative to develop the design and construction of the art to be installed at the Marana Road roundabout.

As the future location of the Town’s planned Downtown Marana and Marana Main Street area, this public art will feature a modern design in a simultaneous effort to acts as a visual centerpiece and gateway to the Town’s Downtown/Main Street area.

The intended design should incorporate the following:

• Be clean and forward-looking in design

• If possible, refer to aspects of Marana’s heritage and natural environment

• Be conscious of the surrounding area’s overall vision for downtown Marana

• Be mindful of sight distances for traffic safety reasons

• Take advantage of the concentric nature of the roundabout, potentially utilizing a 360 degree view

• Complement the established materials board used for the landscape architecture piece included in the roundabout – See separate Attachment ‘A’ Landscape Materials Board.

• Take into consideration Downtown Marana Overlay District guidelines – See separate Attachment ‘B’ Marana Overlay District Guidelines

• Serve as a welcoming presence, acting as a gateway to Downtown Marana/Main Street.

Upon selection of the qualified artist by the Town, a design concept shall be developed in collaboration with Town Staff representatives, the selected artist, pre-selected local students, the local instructor, and Town of Marana Citizens’ Forum members, or any combination thereof.

The Town anticipates that the timeframe between artist submission of design proposals and award of contract may be lengthy, based upon the schedule of grant disbursement. The PAG TABY grant was awarded and disbursed in February 2019.

The Town anticipates that the timeframe for artist recruitment, concept design, construction, and installation to be as follows: artist recruitment phase - May 2019, design phase – June – July 2019, construction phase – August – September 2019, and the installation phase – September – October 2019. These timeframes are subject to change.

To learn more please read the full CALL FOR ARTISTS/REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)

Groundbreaking ceremony held for new senior living facility

Sun Corridor Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Dove Mountain Senior Living.

On Tuesday, May 14, Sun Corridor Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Dove Mountain Senior Living facility being constructed in Marana.

The Dove Mountain Senior Living facility will consist of three buildings, totaling approximately 151,000 square feet. The facility will feature 142 total units,  consisting of independent living, assisted living, and memory care.

“This is a great introduction to a renewed and stronger partnership between the Town of Marana and Sun Corridor Inc.,” said Town of Marana Director of Economic Development Curt Woody.

The project has a capital expenditure of $35 million, and will bring  70 new jobs for the Town of Marana, the majority of which are in the healthcare industry. Construction is projected to end in June of 2020, with a tentative grand opening  the following July.

“This project not only creates jobs and investment into the Town itself, but provides an integral service to senior citizens in our community,” said Town of Marana Mayor Ed Honea.

Rendering of the new Dove Mountain Senior Living facility.

Economic Development Specialist wins award

On Thursday, May 2, Town of Marana Economic/Downtown Development Specialist Heath Vescovi-Chiordi received the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence (EDDE) Award for Member of the Year 2019.

This honor is awarded to an individual out of the entire AAED membership of approximately 450, which includes economic development practitioners, service providers, and private developers throughout the entire state.

“It’s an honor to receive this award from AAED,” said Vescovi-Chiordi. “Thank you to everyone who’s played a role in my professional and personal development.”

The winner demonstrates excellence in participation in AAED Events, committees, leadership, etc., while maintaining exceptional performance in their economic development profession.

Just two weeks prior, Vescovi-Chirodi was elected to the 2019-2020 AAED Board. He was also a featured speaker at the 2019 Marana State of the Town Luncheon.

Vescovi-Chiordi is a member of the Town of Marana’s Department of Economic Development, with an emphasis on trying to bring businesses to the Downtown Marana/Marana Mainstreet area of North Marana.

Heath Vescovi-Chiordi

Community Conversation Videos - Finance, Planning, Engineering

Principal Planner Steven Cheslak

The Town of Marana frequently hosts Community Conversation events where staff members interact with residents. These events allow staff to speak to the public about their area of expertise and answer any questions they may have.

This spring the Town of Marana hosted a trio of Community Conversations with talks by the Finance, Planning and Engineering. Here is video from the three presentations.

Finance Director Yiannis Kalaitzidis discussed the process the Town goes through to create the budget for the 2020 fiscal year as well as taking a detailed look at the numbers.

Principal Planner Steven Cheslak discussed the new businesses and building projects coming to Marana. Among the projects he covered were new businesses coming to North Marana, Cortaro, and near Marana Center and the Premium Outlets.

The Town of Marana's Assistant Director of Engineering Jennifer Christelman discussed a number of the Town's infrastructure projects. She went into detail on the Tangerine Corridor, Ina Road, and upcoming projects at Adonis Road and Lon Adams.

Manager's Message: Ina Road corridor celebrates re-opening

Most of the work on the Ina Road Interchange Project has been completed.

Every month Marana Town Manager Jamsheed Mehta provides a Manager’s Message to the Marana News. This month the topic is the Ina Road corridor.

This weekend, the Town of Marana will welcome the community to the improved Ina Road corridor at the “Ina Road Celebration Weekend” on May 4 and 5. The public will be treated to a kick-off ceremony May 4 at 9 a.m. with Town council and guests from Arizona Department of Transportation, Regional Transportation Authority and Marana Chamber of Commerce, and will be held at the Lowe’s Home Improvement parking lot near the Ina and Thornydale intersection. 

Ina Road Celebration Weekend begins Saturday, May 4.

Businesses will then celebrate with a weekend-long block party, where everyone is encouraged to shop local and support their neighborhood businesses along the Ina Road corridor. I greatly encourage members of the public to join in the celebration as we look on with pride at what this region has accomplished together. 

ADOT’s Ina Road Interchange project involved rerouting local street access away from the interstate in order to reconstruct an entirely new interchange that stretches over both the interstate and the Union Pacific railroad tracks. This eliminated at-grade crossings and widened both Interstate-10 and Ina Road, effectively making the area safer and more accommodating for continued growth. 

The Town’s Ina Road Beautification project was done in conjunction with the Ina Road Interchange project in an effort to improve portions of Ina Road. The repaving project includes landscaping along both sides of the road and in the center median, and adding street lights and traffic signal improvements. Now, when people drive down this corridor, their first impression of our community and businesses will be a positive one. 

Projects such as these are tedious for everyone during times of construction, but the payoff is clear once the dust has settled. Improved infrastructure serves as the literal foundation for a healthy community.  

Marana has experienced a surge in growth in recent years, projecting consistently as one of the fastest growing communities in southern Arizona. In 2018, over 800 new single-family resident homes were built in our community. By our calculations, this means approximately 2,300 new people moved to Marana, bringing our overall population to exceed 47,000 people. 

Marana is a much larger town than it was a decade ago, and large projects like the Ina Road Interchange and Ina Road Beautification Project serve to help support the community we will become in the future. Now, as we end this 2-year construction period, our focus is on revitalizing our affected business community. 

The “Ina Road Celebration Weekend” kicks this effort off with a bang, and I look forward to joining the businesses as they welcome the community back to the corridor. 

Jamsheed Mehta is the Marana Town Manager.