The neighborhood association's Jeanne Turner prepares for a wedding to be held in the 1932-vintage San Pedro Chapel, which will provide the focus for the building project. At least that's what members of the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association are hoping. The association's San Pedro 2000 Committee, chaired by 23-year resident Jeanne Turner, plans to build a neighborhood center unlike any other in Tucson. The chapel was the center of El Fuerte, a village that sprang up around a deactivated U.S. Army post. The neighborhood remembers the little village of farmers, builders and woodworkers every February during Le Reunion de El Fuerte.
Visitors take tours of the area's many historic sites, including the chapel, during the celebration.
The neighborhood plans to build a new support building and a community building on the 2-acre site south of East Fort Lowell Road between North Craycroft and North Swan roads. The support building will house bathrooms, a kitchen and storage space, while the community building will serve as a place for neighborhood activities, Turner said. The chapel, an old shrine and adobe house, ramadas, a shed and a parking lot combined with the new facilities will serve as a community gathering place, Turner said. Concerts, meetings and weddings already take place at the San Pedro chapel year-round. Association leaders hope that with the installation of a heating and cooling system, the chapel will be even more usable.