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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Desert landscapes, beautiful sunsets, and delicious food are only some things that make Tucson a popular tourist destination.
Now, the Old Pueblo is being recognized by Condé Nast as a top go-to travel destination for one neighborhood — Barrio Viejo.
The charming neighborhood has endless years of history.
Originally home to Mexican and Chinese immigrants, Barrio Viejo is a melting pot of culture and long-standing architecture.
The road to getting the neighborhood to a popular tourist destination, though, wasn’t easy.
“There’s gentrification, the convention center, so it was already controversial at the time,” said Felipe Garcia, the president and CEO of Visit Tucson, the organization spearheading Tucson as a top travel location. “Now, we cannot go back and say let’s do something like years ago with the convention center that maybe was not right — we need to look at the present and preserve what we have.”
One highlight of Barrio Viejo is Carly Quinn Designs.
Making hundreds of handcrafted tile pieces a week, the studio is home to an art form that only very few practice today — matching the historical feel of the surrounding neighborhood.
“So we use an old-world technique called cuerda seca, it’s from the 1500s and it’s a Moorish technique,” said owner Carly Quinn. “We’re one of a handful of studios in the entire world that makes tiles using this technique, so we’re really proud we’re able to keep that tradition alive.”
It’s a tradition Carly Quinn has been practicing since 2011. Quinn moved to her Barrio Viejo location in 2016, and fell in love with the charming environment.
“The historic aspect of it,” said Quinn. “I always found this area to be really, really beautiful. I love the old buildings and the color.”
One old building featured by Condé Nast was Teatro Carmen. The theater opened back up in 1915 as a Spanish-language performance space, but it has lived many lives, from a theater to a fish market.
Herb Stratford is an expert on restoring historic theater. Having visited this building since the 1990s, this project holds a special place in his heart.
“In about 2019,” Stratford started, “I found out that the then-owners were interested in doing something with the property. My history of restoring the Fox Theater, they said would you be interested being involved with this project, and ‘I said I’d love to.’”
To get the theatre back to its former glory, Stratford and his team have been focusing on getting the facade complete for folks to enjoy the exterior of the historic theater, with plans to move onto the roof and eventually the interior space.
While honored to be featured by Condé Nast, he said projects like these take time to get it right.
“There is extra pressure being in this neighborhood because it’s such an important neighborhood to Tucson’s history, but every one of these projects is super important,” Stratford said. “We still have some money to raise but I’m super excited for where we are.”
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