Cactus Village Community

History Comes Alive at Arizona Falls -Phoenix News June 24, 2003

Jul 09, 2003

June 24, 2003

Valley residents have the opportunity to revisit history with the opening of the Waterworks at Arizona Falls project on the Arizona Canal. Named for an elevation drop on the Arizona Canal near 56th Street and Indian School Road, Arizona Falls has been transformed into a space that will allow residents to enjoy the canal system while reintroducing green, hydroelectric power.

Managed by the Phoenix Arts Commission in cooperation with Salt River Project, the public art project combines art, history and technology along the banks of the Arizona Canal. With significant community input, the artist team of Mags Harries and Lajos H?©der, with landscape architect Steve Martino, was selected to restore and improve the site. Their concept involves using the falling water as a place to gather, reflect and interact.

Located at the site of a former hydroelectric power plant, the project reuses different parts of the existing site and structures in new ways. The former generator room has become the outdoor "Water Room" lined with desert stone and surrounded by falling water. On either side of the room, elevated aqueducts carry release water back into the canal, creating a pair of 20-foot waterfalls. The Water Room is the heart of the project, providing a place of total sensory involvement with the light, sound and cooling created by water in the desert.

A path takes visitors from Herberger Park up the south bank of the canal and directly under the aqueducts as they move through the Water Room. Visitors then cross a landscaped island to a new pedestrian bridge that connects with the north bank, making the entire experience rich with the movement of running water.

Community enthusiasm for the project also led to the city's commitment to design and build significant streetscape improvements adjacent to the canal banks along the north side of Indian School Road from 48th to 60th streets.

Using the flowing water of the canal to produce power, Arizona Falls was the site of the first hydroelectric plant in Phoenix. It was shut down in 1950 when it was determined that the turbine was no longer efficient. Now, with the availability of new, efficient turbines, Salt River Project is reintroducing hydroelectric power to the site. The new hydroelectric plant will generate about 750 kilowatts of "green" energy - enough to power up to 150 homes a year - while serving as a demonstration of the benefits of renewable energy.

This public art project was funded by city of Phoenix Water Services Department Percent for the Art funds, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and SRP. For more information, call the Phoenix Arts Commission at 602-262-4637.


Media Contact: Greg Esser 602-495-0197
Barbara Frazier 602-534-0115. . .☺