VIDEOS
Progress on Gene C. Reid Park Master Plan
August 28, 2022. City of Tucson is a step closer to start expansion of Reid Park. With reporting by Eric Fink of News 4 Tuscon KVOA-TV, the video below provides an update on development of Reid Park’s Master Plan. It features Tucson architect Bob Vint, a strong advocate for saving the heart of Reid Park. Vint led a group of Tucsonans in developing the alternative “G-Minor” concept “that addresses the legitimate concerns of all parties: a way to expand the Zoo within a reasonable budget, while saving Barnum Hill and its mature tree canopy, the south pond, as well as all existing public green space.” (A Path Forward.)
Community Conversation on Reid Park Zoo Expansion
On Friday, October 1, 2021, Tim Thomure, an assistant city manager, hosted a zoom meeting explaining the most recent design configuration presented to Mayor and Council on the Reid Park zoo expansion project and answered questions from zoom attendees. Council members agreed this latest concept, which best addresses the various criteria and concerns expressed by citizens, is a win-win for all stakeholders. View the video of the meeting below. To examine the updated graphic and explanatory text for the current configuration, visit the project website.
On Saturday, July 10, 2021, from 10 a.m. to noon, the City of Tucson hosted a meeting with the group known as the Core Stakeholder Group, both in person and over Zoom, regarding the Reid Park Zoo expansion into Gene C. Reid Park. This meeting (stream below) was to discuss:
The planned expansion layout and how it meets the considerations and direction expressed by Mayor and Council, and
The timeline for the launch of the Gene C. Reid Park Master Plan engagement process and the public's participation.
View below the April 21, 2021 wrap-up meeting of the Gene C. Reid Park and Reid Park Zoo Community Conversation, in which the core stakeholder group explains the process used to study the issues and options and arrive at its recommendations to the Mayor and City Council. Includes a high-level overview of findings derived from a statistical analysis of the survey on concept options.
Stream below the March 27, 2021 video of the first core stakeholder group meeting on the Gene C. Reid Park and Reid Park Zoo Expansion Community Conversation.
Advocacy & Public Awareness Videos
The informative video below is the felicitous result of a collaborate effort between two sibling coalitions: Save the Heart of Reid Park and Expand Reid Park. It stresses not only the necessity to protect and preserve Barnum Hill and the South Pond from being destroyed in an expansion of the Zoo but also the need to expand free-access public space in the park.
Manon Getsi, Co-Chair of Save the Heart of Reid Park, narrates a leisurely video showing the 3.5 acres of the park scheduled for destruction to accommodate the Zoo’s expansion for an Asian Tiger exhibit. The video emphasizes the natural beauty of the area, especially as viewed from atop Barnum HIll, including the magnificent old-growth trees offering cooling shade for park visitors and the lovely South Pond with its abundant waterfowl and turtles.
The two videos below—in English and Spanish, respectively—were created to promote public awareness about what voters thought their increased taxes would be paying for when they narrowly approved Proposition 203 and what the Zoo actually had intended (i.e., to expand into Barnum Hill and the South Pond for a new Asian Tiger exhibit).
Ecology and Urban Parks
"A forest is much more than what you see," says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery—trees talk, often and over vast distances. Learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes.