The DPC entrance wall, circa 1994.
  • Matt McCoy
  • The DPC entrance wall, circa 1994.

Demolition will begin today on three Arizona Department of Transportation-owned warehouses on Stone and 6th St. which are better known to the community as the former homes of the Downtown Performance Center (DPC) and the Mat Bevel Institute, as the removal of these beloved iconic properties represents the final phase of the twenty-year RTA Downtown Links Corridor project.

In a memo to the Mayor and City Council from Tucson Transportation Director Daryl Cole, as of March of this year TDOT notified the City of the pending demolition of three ADOT-owned warehouses once environmental remediation was complete and had been documented as part of the DLC project. The ADOT properties listed are at 530 N. Stone Ave, 510 N. Stone Ave, and 140 W. 6th St. The demolition is expected to be completed in three weeks.

The DPC corner wall, circa 1994
  • Matt McCoy
  • The DPC corner wall, circa 1994

The 530 N. Stone Ave building is particularly held near and dear to members of the music and art community, as it was used during the lengthy DLC delays as a home to the DPC and Mat Bevel Institute. During its heyday, the DPC was a hotbed of activity that fostered Tucson’s disenfranchised youth. It celebrating a burgeoning local counterculture and featured countless local musicians and hosted then-obscure touring punk acts such as Green Day, Bad Religion and The Offspring, as well as regional Arizona bands like Malignus Youth.

Years after its demise, the DPC is still fresh on the minds of Tucsonans, as Malignus Youth recently held a highly attended reunion concert at the Rialto Theatre (in which they gave former DPC director Steven Eye a small portion of the show’s proceeds), and a Facebook group entitled I Hung Out at the DPC (Downtown Performance Center) boasts nearly 1000 members.

According to Cole’s memo, the TDOT staff has been continuing to work on design and construction of the three-phase DLC project for which was this demolition was programmed into the twenty-year RTA plan. Phase I (8th Street Drainage improvements) was completed in May of 2012, and Phase II (St. Mary’s Rd. from I-10 to Church Avenue) was completed in April of 2014.

Phase III, the final and most complex segment from Church Avenue to Broadway, will be at 90% design completion by September, said Cole. “TDOT is coordinating several efforts to stay on schedule and meet the expectations of the community and the RTA to complete the project. One of those efforts is to acquire and remove buildings that are in the path of corridor construction.”

Cole said that the staff at TDOT spent much time working with the Downtown Links Citizens Advisory Committee (DLCAC), WAMO, ADOT, and other groups assessing the historic structure at 15 E. 6th St. for possible preservation. In the end, TDOT and ADOT staff determined it would require an extensive amount of structural stabilization which would require funding that is not available. ADOT did say that they were working with representatives of the DLCAC to salvage some of the valuable materials to be used in the future construction of Phase III.

Stay tuned to The Range for a more in-depth article on the DPC/Matt Bevel Institute and the fond memories of the space that Tucson’s art and music community share.

This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2014.

10 replies on “Demolition Begins On Former Downtown Performance Center/Mat Bevel Spaces”

  1. said Cole. “TDOT is coordinating several efforts to stay on schedule and meet the expectations of the community and the RTA to complete the project. One of those efforts is to acquire and remove buildings that are in the path of corridor construction.”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_State_Route_210

    What the statement on that page does not make clear is that the local neighborhoods and CAC initially approved another alignment, 3.c in December 2006, that ran along existing 6th St and 6th Ave routes after being shown several alignment options that did not include the ultimately approved Alignment 3.d. After the CAC approval of alignment 3.c, the Southern Pacific railroad decided it wanted more room for a temporary track, known as a “shoofly”, and the optional addition of a third set of rails.[6] The new alignment option 3.d was presented by Andrew Singelakis as item No. 6 “Review/Refinement of Sixth Street Alignments and Drainage” to the CAC on January 14, 2008, but no decision was requested.

    The mayor and council approved the “thread the needle alignment” in 2007. That alignment received the Common Ground Award by the Metro Pima Alliance. It was rejected in January and replaced with a radically different plan.[9] All previous CAC before January 14, 2008 and all public meetings were only shown alignment options that did not include the ultimately approved Alignment 3.d. On March 11, 2008, city planners held what they called a “Character Workshop”. At that meeting, they presented only the new 3.d alignment[10] to the public, declaring that there would be no “additional” public input because this was the only choice to be reviewed at that meeting. Many members of the public thought that this meant that the choice had already been made, which may have been the informal case. No other alignments were presented or public meetings about other alignments were announced until public protest threatened to halt the meeting. The meeting organizers refused to discuss any other alignment options, claiming the particular meeting was only about the amenities.

  5. Malignus Youth gave a “small portion” of their reunion show’s proceeds to Steve Eye.
    Wow, I paid $25 for a ticket that clearly stated it was a “Benefit for Steve Eye”.

  6. I wish they would stop calling it “Downtown Links.” This project does not link anything in downtown. It severs our city in two. Ten years from now we will be wondering what on earth anyone was thinking. It is such a demonstrably horrible project that you almost cannot find anyone who supports it. The most you hear in its favor is, “well, we voted for it so now it has to happen even though everyone knows it’s stupid.”

  8. Like many others, the introducton of the DPC was from my older sister & then became a regular with friends . I’m glad Steve was mentioned. If not for him, I would not have many many years of bad ass musical nights & memories. Now I’m sad…. But glad I got to be a part of it.

  10. Split the town in half? You got your trolley to go back and forth stupid. These buildings should have been gone 20 years ago. The people that pay taxes need away to get out of town.

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