Tourist Sites Get Funding For Marketing & Renovation

Gov. Napolitano today announced rural communities in Arizona will receive $673,779 in funding to help pay for tourism-related development projects. The funding, which comes from the Rural Tourism Development Grant Program through the Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT), will provide money for 16 different entities across the state.

The FY 2007 grants will be awarded to cities, towns, chambers of commerce, & convention & visitors’ bureaus. Entities that receive grant funds are encouraged to combine these awards with private & other grant monies to enhance tourism development in their communities. The grant program is administered & managed through AOT, & provides funding to support marketing efforts as well as renovation & construction projects directly related to tourism in rural Arizona.

Rural Tourism Development Grant Awards:

Benson, City of - $36,750 (Benson Visitor Center Monument Sign Project)
Funds will be used to construct & install a visually appealing & architecturally significant monument & LED sign display to create awareness of a multitude of special events in Benson & the surrounding areas.

Camp Verde, Town of - $35,250 (Camp Verde Cannons Project)
Funds will be used to place 2 historically correct cannons at strategic locations in Camp Verde & to purchase period uniforms.

Clarkdale, Town of & Clarkdale Heritage Center - $50,000 (Centering on Clarkdale’s History)
Funds will be used to renovate a 1920 two level historic building to be dedicated as the 1st museum in Clarkdale which will be named, "The Clarkdale Heritage Center". The project will also include parking lot stripping, directional & building signage & the addition of a sidewalk from the building to an adjacent monument & overlook.

Colorado River Indian Tribe - $31,875 (CRIT Tourism Information Center)
Funds will be used to remodel an existing storefront in the Moovalya Shopping Plaza into a tourism information center for the Colorado River Indian Tribe.

Flagstaff Cultural Partners - $50,000 (Flagstaff Cultural Park Highway 180 Signage)
Funds will be used for construction, lighting, entry paving, & landscaping for the Coconino Center of the Arts & Pioneer Museum on Highway 180 in Flagstaff which will be developed into a cultural park.

Friends of Madera Canyon - $37,200 (Exploring Madera Canyon)
Funds will be used to purchase & install eight (8) forest service graphic trail maps, trail map registration, comment card boxes & automatic car counter.

George Phippen Memorial Foundation - $18,200 (Signage for Phippen Museum)
Funds will be used for the design, manufacturing, lighting, installation & landscaping of professional exterior & interior signage.

Gila River Arts & Crafts, Inc. - $15,825 (Expansion & Renovation of Gila Heritage Park)
Funds will be used to purchase an entrance sign, storyboards, landscaping, plant identification plaques, irrigation system, construction of a Pima Ki, Hohokam pit house & a performance area.

Globe Miami Regional Chamber of Commerce - $50,000 (Old Dominion Mine Project) Funds will be used for the construction & installation of warning & interpretive signage, armada for picnic tables & benches, an entrance sign & trash receptacles along the trial in the Old Dominion Mine Park.

Mt. Turnbull Rodeo & Festivities Committee - $50,000 (Bylas Rodeo Ground Renovation)
Funds will be used to renovate the Bylas Rodeo Fairgrounds to enhance the look & feel of the rodeo activity which includes renovating the announcer stand, replace panels for the pens, build an exhibit hall for local artists & provide lighting for the arena.

Navajo Parks & Recreation Department - $50,000 (Four Corners Monument Restrooms Project)
Funds will be used to purchase 2 waterless restrooms that will be installed at the Four Corners Monument on the Arizona portion of the monument.

Patagonia Area Business Association & Sonoita Elgin Merchants Chamber of Commerce - $50,000 (Mountain Empire Sign & Sculpture Project)
Funds will be used for the fabrication & installation of 4 thematic welcome signs visually uniting the region in the visitor’s mind. Additionally, a visitor/community announcement board of similar design will be purchased & installed.

Sierra Vista, City of - $49,379 (West End Entryway Monument Walls & Signs)
Funds will be used to construct monument signs, rock cobble walls & landscaping in the historic West End of Sierra Vista.

Sipaulovi Village - $49,300 (Hopi Village Tour Initiative)
Funds will be used for the construction of two kiosks, Hopi oral history interviews and translation, directional signs & the production of virtual tours.

Superior, Town of - $50,000 (Town of Superior Visitor’s Center)
Funds will be used to renovate a caboose to house a visitors center in the under utilized community park situated on the U.S. 60; & park improvements such as landscaping, hardscapes, seating & lighting.

Tombstone, City of - $50,000 (Boothill Graveyard ADA Accessible Restrooms & Verdana Project)
Funds will be used for the construction of ADA accessible public restroom facilities at Boothill Graveyard, a public drinking fountain & covered veranda which would house a vending area.