Every once in a while an artist comes along who manages to introduce entirely new ways of thinking about the world. James Turrell is one such artist. In 1974, Turrell discovered the crater as he was looking for a place to build a naked-eye observatory. A few years later, Turell purchased the land surrounding the crater and has made it his life's mission to transform its interior into a piece of public artwork where the “cycles of geologic and celestial time can be directly experienced.” Turrell designed the crater to give viewers a “transformative sensory experience.” In 1986, the Arizona Daily Star described the project as "transforming an extinct volcano into a techno-artistic Stonehenge."

The crater is nestled within an extinct volcano that spans two miles and rises 580 feet above the desert. The interior eventually will have a labyrinth of 24 viewing spaces and six tunnels, each with a distinctive view of the sky. One of the tunnels, a staggering 854 feet long, is nearly the length of three football fields. The artworks within are shrouded by the crater's natural exterior that seamlessly blends into the landscape.

Turrell's installation seeks to encourage viewers to contemplate light, time, the landscape through providing ways of seeing each and their interplay over time. It also serves as a naked-eye observatory for looking at the sky. Each of the vantage points is aligned with celestial bodies to create various light patterns and view specific astronomical phenomena. Unlike traditional architectural spaces, the tunnels and spaces within the Roden Crater are designed to manipulate, display, and ultimately be concealed by light and shadow. According to Turrell, light itself is his medium of choice.

Turrell's vision for Roden Crater includes creating an ecosystem for artists, astronomers, and visionaries to congregate, share ideas, and collaborate. To allow people to have extended visits, Turrell plans to build over thirty lodges near the crater. The installation is designed and built to last for thousands of years for countless generations to enjoy.

The crater remains incomplete and is only occasionally opened to the public, but its completion remains elusive. Gobbling millions of dollars from foundations and donors, the project may soon reach completion. In recent years, Kanye West who has donated ten million dollars to fund the project, and Arizona State University has taken an active role in providing funding and supporting the craters completion.

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Built by an investment group led by prominent Phoenicians Marion Isbell and Del Webb, the Sahara Motor Inn opened in 1955. It became one of the signature hotels of the Ramada Inn motel chain during the 1960s. It served a generation of tourists to Phoenix. However, like other mid-century hotels, the property lost a bit of its luster. It became ripe for urban renewal efforts sweeping through central Phoenix. In fact, civic and university leaders reimagined downtown Phoenix by the opening years of the 21st century, including the blocks surrounding the hotel. Eventually, Phoenix and Arizona State University razed the building in 2010 over the objections of preservationists to create a new campus for its Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.  The Sahara Motor Inn developed at the intersection of multiple trends in the mid-century, including the rise of auto culture, the rapid development of the Southwest, and new architectural styles. Webb, Isbell, and their partners built the hotel near the intersection of 1st Street and Polk Street, near Phoenix's central business district, and along Van Buren Avenue, the region's main artery along with Highways 60, 70, 80, & 89 flowed. The group hired Matthew E. Trudell to design the hotel. He used popular materials from the mid-century period, including red brick, colored art glass, tiles, floor and ceiling glass, cast-in-place concrete, and solid and patterned block.  The hotel included amenities that made it appeal to a wide array of visitors. The Sahara Motor Inn covered an entire city block, with 175 guest rooms, a bar area, a dining and lounge facility, and two terrace suites for holding meetings and parties. It even included two apartment penthouses. Shortly after its opening in the 1950s, the hotel attracted celebrities, partly because of its novelty and style and because one of its investors was a prominent performer of the period. Comedian George Goebel, who had a well-regarded comedy show on NBC that lasted from 1954-1959, invested in the hotel. Other celebrities stayed in the hotel as guests. For example, Marilyn Monroe resided in one of them while filming her movie Bus Stop in 1956. Based on William Inge's play, comedy-drama tells the story of a rodeo cowboy (played by Don Murray) who falls in love with a nightclub singer, played by Monroe. Both characters meet in Phoenix and attend a rodeo before heading out of town.  Interestingly, the Sahara emerged from a matrix of different business interests that coalesced in central Phoenix around the nascent motor hotel business. Mike Robinson created The Flamingo Inn in McAllen, Texas, in 1946. Along with a small group of investors from Chicago, they expanded the Flamingo into a chain with properties in Yuma, Phoenix, and Tucson in 1948. (Later, in 1962, Robinson started the Rodeway Inn Hotel Chain.) The group began working with Del Webb and Marion Isbell in the 1950s, using the name HiWay House Group, developing a series of hotels across Arizona, including the Sahara Motor Inn in downtown Phoenix. After the group's business interests diverged, Webb developed his own chain of Hiway House Hotels, as well as the Sun City retirement community. Robinson and Isbell, meanwhile, began developing the Ramada Inn motel chain.  The development of the Ramada Inn in the 1960s represented both the expansion and consolidation of the hotel industry, including the emergence of chain hotels. The idea behind chains was to create inexpensive and consistent lodgings that would profit off increasing numbers of automobile tourists and business travelers. Robinson recalled that he came up with the name Ramada, a Spanish word meaning "a place to rest by the side of the road." Robinson initially took the position of chairman of the board, and then Marion Isbell succeeded him in 1960, raising capital by taking the company public on the stock exchange. The influx of capital allowed Isbell to build the chain from 45 hotels in the American west to more than 500 motels in 45 different states. Large hotel chains, such as the Ramada franchise, competed with local hotels, such as the hundreds located along Van Buren Avenue. As a result of economies of scale, attempts to homogenize the guest experience, and national marketing campaigns, hotel chains eventually undermined the business models of small, locally-owned hotels and supplanted them. With the development of the chain concept, formerly independent properties, such as the Sahara, lost their identity, becoming subsumed under the Ramada name. In fact, the Sahara became the "Sahara Ramada Inn," a title it held through a renovation in the 1970s, when it lost some of its distinctive design flair. By the 21st century, the Ramada Inn downtown had lost its luster. It became vulnerable to the forces of development and redevelopment sweeping central Phoenix. Countervailing and somewhat paradoxical forces reshaped Phoenix's downtown. On the one hand, the sprawling regional development of Phoenix led to a lack of investment in the city center. At the same time, developers sought ways to revitalize the urban core. As these tensions and periods of recession saw central Phoenix witness incomplete redevelopment, older mid-century properties declined. Finally, in 2004, Phoenix and Arizona State University unveiled a plan for a "world-class" core of bioscience and commercial development. According to the Arizona Republic, the "faded pink stucco walls (were) greening in value," giving the owners a unique opportunity to profit from the land's redevelopment. Historic preservationists sought to save the building and re-use the mid-century materials. Still, their efforts were thwarted as the hotel was sold in 2010 to ASU for $5 million. Although ASU briefly used the property as a dorm, it demolished the Sahara Motor Inn to create a parking lot, which became the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law site.  

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Until 2012, the Alpha Drive fraternity community occupied this campus district, with thirteen houses (ten occupied) providing a unique gathering place for men affiliated with the University's fraternity community. For better or worse, Alpha Drive represented something much bigger than just a simple series of homes--it reflected the University's commitment to signature architecture and fraternity life. Looking carefully at the history of the lost fraternity houses also reveals much about the changing University - and even the changing place of the University in Tempe.

In the 1950s, the University began exploring the possibility of building a housing community for male students involved in fraternities, comprising about 18 percent of male undergraduates. As enrollments increased dramatically in the post-war boom, fraternity membership also grew at Arizona State University (formerly known as Arizona Teachers College.) Fraternity life also had outgrown the Adelphi complex. The much smaller Adelphi complex had represented the University's first attempts at housing five of the most prominent Greek organizations. Housing demand was not the only factor in deciding to build fraternity housing. School officials also wanted to maintain control and supervision over the sometimes unruly and rowdy fraternities that hosted functions at private, off-campus locations. Thus, in 1962, Arizona State University greenlit and financed plans of several very prominent local architects to put to construction.

When completed in 1963, Alpha Drive dwarfed the nearby dorms in size and architectural style. Imagined by several groups of prominent Arizona-based mid-century architectural firms and created under the guidance of nine different contractors--all of whom were given a limited selection of materials to keep costs to a minimum--the buildings of Alpha Drive nonetheless displayed a common architectural and stylistic language. They showcased the distinctive sleek geometries, contrasting materials, minimal ornament, and functional forms that characterized mid-century architecture. This modern style emerged across the American west in the 1950s. It served as a defining characteristic for many buildings in Tempe.

For example, the Phi Sigma Kappa house displays an excellent instance of the mid-century modernist style found along Alpha Drive. Aside from the general designs of the structure, the homes' entrance featured the fraternity's letters cemented onto a porch-like concrete overhang commonly referred to as a "porte-cochere," which was a functional reinterpretation of a feature in many of the extravagant modernist homes in the 18th and 19th century. Elements such as the porte-cochere existed to create a much more dramatic entrance to the building, which exemplifies the architectural direction the creators of the Phi Sigma Kappa houses' designs decided to embark upon.

Prominent local architect Kemper Goodwin designed this very same building. Goodwin (and his son, Michael) designed many signature buildings across the region as part of the larger mid-century architectural movement. Arizona natives, Goodwin's family solidified itself prominently in the history of the University when the first football stadium was named after Goodwin's father, Garfield, a former Mayor of Tempe. The Goodwins' work would include municipal buildings in Tempe and West, Memorial, and Wilson Halls (among other notable buildings) on the Tempe campus. Kemper and his son Michael also created the Tempe Municipal Building in 1970, with its unconventional inverted pyramid design.

Kemper Goodwin's work on the Phi Sigma Kappa house and his fellow architects lent Arizona State a modernist sensibility during the building boom of the 1950s and 1960s, which more than doubled the size of the campus. Alpha Drive reflected the aspirations of the University as it sought to grow from a regional teacher's college into a national University. Through its innovative use of design in designing Alpha Drive, ASU had begun to reimagine itself using the idiom of the distinctive mid-century architectural style that emerged following World War II. Likewise, it represented an expansion of the University's physical plant that included construction across campus and the creation of a new sports stadium nearby, straddling Hayden Butte. Even so, the buildings never achieved wide use, even as ASU expanded. However, Alpha Rows' low-density feel--two stories, with thirteen buildings on a broad open space involving a little over 13 acres--was appropriate to Tempe's relatively sparsely populated areas and ASU of the 1950s. But as the city and University continued to expand, the Alpha Drive community became an ever-more attractive option for a different use that would meet the demands of the campus.

For more than forty years, Alpha Drive served as a hub for fraternity functions. Still, development and maintenance pressures, as well as skepticism about the role of fraternities at ASU and on college campuses in general, worked against these historic buildings. Alpha Drive gradually fell into disuse, demolishing its last building in 2012. Even so, Alpha Drive reveals the history of the campus and community, its architecture and ambitions--even as the site of the fraternities is re-purposed toward another grand vision for ASU's growth in the 21st century.

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The area in Tempe between College Avenue and Veterans Way, on the north side of University Drive, is currently home to several Arizona State University (ASU) buildings such as the Fulton Center, Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, as well as several popular restaurants. The triangular shaped area has also housed university students since the late 1950s. Residence halls, including Manzanita Hall, Palo Verde East and West, San Pablo, and most recently, Tooker House, are where ASU students currently call home. However, long ago a different group of people also called this area home. They were the descendants of Mexican pioneers who played an important role in establishing and developing Tempe. This area was their home for over seventy years called San Pablo.

By the mid-19th century, Hispanic settlers migrated north into central Arizona from Sonora and Tucson for economic opportunities. Political turmoil in Sonora and constant Apache raids on settlements in southern Arizona drove migrants North. At the same time, the influx of Anglo settlers created land disputes, as many long-time Hispanic landowners could not provide proof of land ownership and lost their lands. The lax system of property rights in Mexico was not suitable to the strict American legal system. As migrants made their way into the Salt River Valley, many of the Hispanic pioneers would settle south of the river, in the region that would become Tempe. Natives to the southwestern region, Mexican settlers brought with them extensive knowledge of adobe building techniques, canal building, and irrigation farming; they became essential to the growth of the Salt River Valley.

The names William H. Kirkland, Winchester Miller, and Charles Trumbull Hayden are now famously associated with Tempe’s early history. However, many Hispanic families also played an important role in the founding and development of Tempe, though that story has not been well told. The Sotelo, Soza, and Gonzales families provided the knowledge and labor that created the community. Hispanic workers helped to build canals in Tempe, such as the Kirkland-McKinney Ditch and the San Francisco Canal. They also built Hayden’s flour mill and ferry. Hispanic families owned large acres of land west and east of the mill and became influential leaders in the region. The Sotelo family provided financial assistance to help start the Tempe Normal School, which would become Arizona State University. In 1872, Hispanic laborers joined together in an effort to form a new settlement. With the help of William H. Kirkland, who donated 80 acres of his land, Mexican families had a place they could call home, named San Pablo. The Arizona Citizen reported:

The Tempe people, not satisfied with Hayden’s Ferry, have laid out a new town just alongside named San Pablo, and the proceeds of the sale of the town lots is to be devoted to the building of a Catholic church.

The Catholic church was dedicated on March 10, 1881 to Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Our Lady of Mount Carmel). The small adobe structure stood at the base of the butte overseeing San Pablo with a cemetery located nearby. The church was relocated in 1903 to the northwest corner of 8th Street and Willow Avenue (University Drive & College Avenue) to accommodate the growing population. Today, it is known as the All Saints Catholic Newman Center.

The character of San Pablo reflected the expertise of the Mexican community in building adobe structures. Using local materials--including the clay found on a lot--laborers formed adobe blocks, dried them in the sun, and used them to build homes and other buildings. Thick walls of adobe homes offered cooling in summer and provided insulation in the winter. As historian Scott Soliday has noted about the community: “Homes in San Pablo reflected the architecture of the Sonoran frontier–flat-roofed adobes with plain facades set right up to the street, with large enclosed yards in [the] back…In the summertime, ollas [pots] filled with cool drinking water were hung from porches, and residents bought wood for cooking from Indian peddlers that came to town.” The community also had an active economic life. Some of the businesses in the neighborhood included a general merchandise store owned by Jesus Alvarez, La Reforma Saloon owned by E. Barrogan, and the Soto and Salia’s grocery store. Other establishments were Old Jim Murphy’s general store and a saloon, owned by Jesus Perez, that served “Tanglefoot” whiskey and Mexican food. Likewise, the children of San Pablo and Anglo children attended classes together in Tempe’s first schoolhouse, an adobe building located on 8th Street (University) & Mill Avenue. Even so, the roots of segregation were being laid, San Pablo became known as “East Tempe” or “Mexican Town” to the Anglo community.

After more than three decades of cooperation with the region’s Hispanic communities, Tempe’s Anglo community began to implement segregation measures in the 1910s. This coincided with an increase in the Mexican population in Tempe following the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Racial discrimination and segregation in Tempe became pervasive. The old Eighth Street School, Tempe Beach Pool, movie theaters, and other public buildings became segregated facilities. Even the Tempe Fire Department was segregated, with only Company No. 1 handling fires in “Mexican Town.” San Pablo, along with other Hispanic neighborhoods grew isolated from the neighboring communities, becoming segregated “barrios.” During this period of rising segregation, San Pablo steadily grew in size and population as immigrants moved into the town. Also, many original landowning Hispanic families lost their lands as the result of structured racism and segregation. According to Jessica Bridges Robinson, “Many of the early Mexican homesteaders had their land claims stripped away or invalidated within years of moving to the area…they were often unable to defend their land and water rights, as very few San Pablo residents had access to the Anglo-run legal and political systems.” As these families were pushed out of their lands, they also moved to San Pablo. Hispanic leaders began to emerge to fight for their rights and against injustices. Groups such as Liga Protectora Latina and Alianza Hispano-Americana worked to protect the rights of the Mexican-American population.

Unfortunately, the first official Hispanic settlement in Tempe, San Pablo, disappeared due to the expansion of Arizona State University. In the post-war period, student enrollment increased and ASU expanded rapidly, crossing University Avenue. The university made plans to acquire property to build new student dormitories, as well as a new football stadium. Using the tools of urban renewal, ASU first devalued the properties in San Pablo by legally labeling them as condemned lands. Then ASU paid low prices to the residents of San Pablo to acquire their homes and land through eminent domain. After the first few properties were sold, ASU immediately began tearing down the homes. Mexican-Americans were pushed out from their homes and forced to move. Many San Pablo residents relocated to the La Victoria neighborhood. Even so, the loss was felt palpably by the community. Upon returning from military service and seeing the wreckage of his community for the first time, San Pablo resident, Joe Soto, said “[it] looked like a bomb had fallen and just wiped everything out...They say a lot of people were crying, a lot of people thought that they were getting cheated.” Another resident said, “it left us with a lost empty feeling in our hearts for our barrio was the land of our birth, our freedom and identity” The loss of San Pablo at the vibrant heart of Tempe also obscured the contributions that Mexican Americans had made to the region. Historians associated with the Chicano movement of the 1970s began to resuscitate that history and recently the Tempe History Museum has featured the story of San Pablo prominently in its exhibitions.

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Fraternities at Arizona State University are currently housed in the Greek Leadership Village with sororities, but they once lived along Alpha Drive near the stadium. In the early 1960s, when the homes on Alpha Drive were constructed, according to Mark Pry there were a total of “nineteen chapters and colonies with 980 members at Arizona State University.” Of the University’s nineteen chapters and colonies, ten fraternity chapters resided along Alpha Drive for more than thirty years. The last of the houses on Alpha Drive was demolished in 2012. The homes were not taken from the men without reason. Financial struggles, maintenance disputes, and behavioral issues are among the main reasons the homes on Alpha Drive were demolished.

From the outset, the fraternities faced financial challenges. According to Mark Pry, “Within two years of the opening of the Alpha Drive houses, some of the fraternities were struggling financially and finding it difficult to make their lease payments in a timely manner.” This struggle to pay rent to the University originated from a variety of circumstances. Collecting rent and dues from the fraternity members was challenging. Additionally, some of the fraternities struggled because they were unable to fill the bed spaces within the houses. According to Mark Pry, “Each fraternity would need from fifty to sixty members living in its house to be able to afford the lease payments; if fewer than fifty members rented rooms in the house—something that happened from time to time—a fraternity could easily find its income lagging behind its expenses.”

Maintenance also presented both a financial and structural issue for the fraternities. Both the fraternities and the University appeared to have believed the other was responsible for maintaining the buildings and grounds. According to an Arizona Republic article titled “10 ASU alumni groups sue regents on fraternity rent”, “In 1983 the ten fraternities at Alpha Drive sued ASU, charging that the university was using their lease payments not for maintenance of the houses but for matters unrelated to the buildings. . . The university disputed the claim, arguing that the lease payments were meant to retire the revenue bonds and that maintenance was the responsibility of the fraternities.” The lawsuit quieted down for a few years but resurfaced when a big expense was encountered. Installing sprinklers in 1998 re-ignited the debate about who was responsible for maintenance. Neither ASU nor the fraternities wanted to pay. According to an Arizona Republic article titled “Frats to stay open without sprinklers”, “Installation of the sprinklers on Alpha Drive was delayed for nearly two years as the fraternities and university quarreled over who would pay for the work; eventually the dispute was resolved by the university allowing the fraternities to use their reserve funds to cover the expense.” Large maintenance bills and the lawsuit led to a deeper financial burden, leading to the end of Alpha Drive’s fraternity housing.

Constant fraternity parties, where alcohol was served, created issues between the fraternities and the university. Alcohol became such an issue that, according to Mark Pry, “temporary bans on alcohol consumption at Alpha Drive were instituted in 2006 and 2007.” The men were also linked to sexual assaults and automobile accidents as results of the parties. If the out-of-control parties pushed the University to confront the aging infrastructure of Alpha Drive, including long-term maintenance issues, the University’s growth also challenged the University to maximize its use of space at the Tempe Campus. And, the prime location of Alpha Drive was surely desirable for the University’s long-term expansion plans.

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It all began with two men. One, is a master architect. The other, is a university president leading a small school toward becoming a major university. Gammage Auditorium resulted from that collaboration--becoming a symbol for ASU and Tempe and emerging as a representation of Wright's enduring late-career ideas and influence. Frank Lloyd Wright is arguably the greatest (or at least most influential) American architect. His impact is visible everywhere in the United States. Not just evident in his artistic master creations such as Taliesin or Falling Water, Wright's influence extends to the ranch-style homes ubiquitous across American suburbs and the midwestern and western United States landscapes, especially in Phoenix and the southwest. 

In 1958 Proposition 200 passed in a statewide election by a 2-1 vote, and Arizona State College became Arizona State University. Sun Devil Stadium opened that same year, and the team moved from the smaller Goodwin Stadium. The new stadium opened with seating for 30,000 fans, twice the capacity of the 15,000-seat Goodwin Stadium. Later renovations increased the size to nearly 75,000 seats. In many ways, the construction of Sun Devil Stadium represented a coming-of-age for ASU.

University President Grady Gammage, who became President in 1933, led the statewide campaign to pass Proposition 200, through which the college became a full-fledged university. Also, under his leadership, the school added the first Master's program and saw enormous growth in attendance. The most significant increase in attendance occurred following World War II, primarily due to the GI Bill, when student populations increased across the United States. For example, from a population of about 3,000 students in 1945, enrollments tripled to more than 10,000 by Gammage's death in 1959. Increasing student populations allowed Gammage to secure federal funding for several new buildings to accommodate the students' needs, including Sun Devil Stadium and Grady Gammage Auditorium.

Naming the field at Sun Devil Stadium after former head coach Frank Kush in 1996 reveals another aspect of the stadium's history--the growing importance of college sports on campus. Kush came to Arizona as an assistant coach for the Sun Devils in 1955 and was promoted to head coach in 1958. He was also active in the drive to pass Proposition 200. During his 22-year tenure as head coach, the Sun Devils only had one losing season. The Sun Devils won several conference championships and the first three Fiesta Bowl Games. Kush's legacy was not without controversy. Kush was fired as coach in 1979 for interfering with an investigation into allegations of physical harassment of a former player. He was found not liable, but in 1980 the NCAA punished ASU for multiple violations while Kush was coach.

Sun Devil Stadium emerged as one of the most prominent sports venues in the Valley, contributing to the broader sports tourism industry with the inauguration of the Fiesta Bowl in 1971. In the 1960s, then-President G. Homer Durham originally suggested the Bowl. Eventually, a committee was formed to petition the NCAA. The Fiesta Bowl was founded to ensure that Western Athletic Conference champions would have a bowl game to compete in after multiple years of champion teams, including the Sun Devils, on two occasions, were not invited to any major bowl games. In 1968 Sun Bowl officials said they would ask the winner of the territorial cup (the game between ASU vs. University of Arizona). Still, UofA insisted on an invitation ahead of the game, saying they would otherwise decline following their assumed victory against the Sun Devils. The Sun Bowl organizers agreed. The Sun Devils beat the Wildcats 30-7 in the game, which would have garnered them an invitation had the Wildcats not issued their ultimatum before the game. In 1970 the Sun Devils were undefeated - but were only invited to the Peach Bowl. The Sun Devils have won five of their six Fiesta Bowl games, including the first three years of the Bowl. The game was moved in 2006 to Glendale when the city created a larger, more modern venue to host the Arizona Cardinals professional football franchise.

Sun Devil Stadium also was home to Arizona's first professional football team. In 1988 the stadium became the home of the Arizona Cardinals. They would share the stadium with the Sun Devils until moving to their new facility in 2006. Traditionally NFL teams wear uniforms in their colors during home games and white for away games. The Cardinals did so for their first home game at Sun Devil Stadium then switched to wearing white at home during the warmer months so the opposing team would have to wear darker colors in the heat. In 1996 Sun Devil Stadium hosted Super Bowl XXX. The field was painted by ASU Athletics Facilities Maintenance Manager Peter Wozniak, who has painted the Sun Devil Stadium field prior to games since he was a student at ASU in the 1980s. Following Super Bowl XXX, the NFL asked him to continue painting the field for pro title games. He has done so internationally, spending about three weeks working on each field.

The Cardinals remained at Sun Devil Stadium much longer than anyone expected. The Cardinals came to Arizona with an agreement that a dedicated stadium would be built for the team. This would allow the organization to access revenue streams they were cut off from as a university tenant. Funding for the new stadium was delayed due to the savings and loan crisis of the 1990s but was eventually approved by Arizona voters. The original plan called for a new stadium in Tempe to take advantage of the existing infrastructure. However, it was blocked due to the proximity of Sky Harbor International Airport. The state-of-the-art stadium was built in Glendale, at the cost of $455 million, with over $300 million paid by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority and the city of Glendale. Naming rights were awarded to the University of Phoenix for $154.5 million for twenty years. However, they were terminated after eleven years due to financial problems at the for-profit school. The new stadium also generates revenue from luxury skyboxes and outdoor concerts. The 2018 Taylor Swift concert brought in over 7 million dollars for the team.

As a central venue for large events, Sun Devil Stadium also played an important role in regional music and arts. In March 1976, a press junket and concert was held for the filming of Barbra Streisand's remake of "A Star is Born." The show was a full-day event featuring multiple artists, and several songs were filmed for the movie. Other performers included her movie co-stars, Kris Kristofferson, Peter Frampton, and Santana. The tickets were $3.50. Part of The Rolling Stones' concert film "Let's Spend the Night Together" was filmed at Sun Devil Stadium in 1982, as well as some footage for U2's rockumentary "Rattle and Hum" in 1988. In 1987 Pope John Paul II performed Mass at Sun Devil Stadium. Before his visit, all images of Sparky, the Sun Devils mascot, were covered. In 2009 President Barack Obama spoke at the Spring Commencement Ceremony, held at Sun Devil Stadium. The University did not grant an honorary degree to the President during his visit, citing his lack of accomplishments at the time. This caused some controversy prior to his visit, but Obama joked about it during his speech, saying his wife would agree with the statement and that he would "never pick another team above the Sun Devils in his NCAA bracket."

Sun Devil Stadium has undergone several changes in recent years as it finds its place in the community with the move of the Arizona Cardinals to the newer stadium in Glendale. ASU asked a group of student interns to come up with ideas on how to better utilize the stadium year-round, not just during Sun Devil games, and how to make it more profitable for the University. It was due for renovations anyway - the original construction did not use waterproof concrete because of the desert location. What wasn't taken into account? The water that was used for cleaning. The stands were hosed down after each of the Sun Devil and Cardinal games, leading to rusting foundation supports. Three phases of renovations totaling $307 million were done between seasons to minimize the disruption for the team, with the third finished in August 2018 before the first game of the season. The renovations reduced the overall seating capacity to approximately 53,000, but combined the two student sections and connected the east and west sides of the stadium. Now, the entire stadium can be accessed from any entrance. Amenities such as restrooms and concessions were also upgraded. A new video board was installed, and a Student-Athlete Facility was constructed. The University plans to use the stadium to host events year-round.

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Searing heat scorches Tempe, Arizona and the Sonoran Desert from May through September, and the only beacon of relief from the oppressive heat is air conditioning. With a tap of the thermostat…presto, the magic of chilled air wafts from our vents. Without the emergence of air conditioning, the massive migrations that led to the development of metropolitan Phoenix would probably not have happened. However, the process through which air is cooled--not to mention its history--is a mystery for most people. If the Southwest as it is today would not exist without AC, neither would Arizona State University. Thus, sharing the history of air conditioning at ASU, and its evolution over the last century, tells us much about the emergence of the University and the region.

Already, early 20th century, the Tempe Normal School of Arizona (ASU) selling students on the cool comfort of the dormitories played a role in the University’s published materials. For example, the June 1916 Bulletin of the Tempe Normal School of Arizona noted that sleeping porches were integrated in dormitories to keep students cool while they slept. They were described as, “…a wing, open on three sides to the air and two stories in height. It is screened all around, fitted with storm curtains, and affords room for all occupants of the building, who are thus enabled to sleep comfortably in the open air the entire year.” The sleeping porches—perhaps coupled with oscillating fans--would have been necessary for a comfortable night of sleep. For example, on June 15, 1916, about the time when the Bulletin of the Tempe Normal School of Arizona was published, temperatures soared to a devastating 111° Fahrenheit. Later that autumn, in August, the average monthly high was over 100 degrees and the average low was about 73 degrees--both substantially cooler than is typical in summer. Advertising the comfort of sleeping porches to prospective students would have reassured them that the desert was habitable in summer.

From the humble beginnings of sleeping porches to icy breeze from AC vents today, climate control has changed dramatically and become ubiquitous, even in cool northern climates. Evaporative cooling, also known as swamp coolers, represented the first big transition in 1936. These coolers could reduce the temperature anywhere from twenty to thirty degrees, especially before monsoon season, working best in the hot, dry climates of Tempe. By blowing air through damp pads with an electric fan, these swamp coolers provided a welcome relief from the blistering heat. Unfortunately, swamp coolers introduced humidity into the air, which caused an uncomfortable stickiness at times. Even so, as many as 90 percent of Phoenix-area homes had swamp coolers by the 1950s—the same decade in which electric window air-condition units began to be commonly used. In fact, across the United States more than one million of these units were sold in 1953 alone. Unlike swamp coolers, they dehumidified the air and alleviated the stickiness that swamp coolers introduced. Just as television spread rapidly in the 1950s, so too did air conditioning. These de-humidifying air conditioners--so prevalent today—became increasingly common in hot desert climates; central air conditioning was included in much new construction by the end of the 1960s. In the 21st century, more than 80 percent of all American homes have some form of air conditioning.

Keeping up with the cooling needs of a growing student population at ASU proved challenging—one met through an elaborate infrastructure. Ten to fifteen feet under the Tempe campus is a maze of tunnels that chilled air must travel to reach the buildings and classrooms at ASU. Walled in concrete, these tunnels are approximately 5 miles in length and stretch from Apache Boulevard to Sun Devil Stadium. One of the Facilities Management Directors at ASU explains that most of the tunnel systems have been here as long as the campus has, but more tunnels have been added to service the needs of the campus. Some tunnels measure eight feet high and seven feet wide and were built at the same time the malls and walkways at ASU were built. Industrial-grade pipes funnel the cold air through a subterranean maze of tunnels and return the warmer air to ASU’s Central Plant.

The Central Plant at ASU provides the full spectrum of climate control for the entire Tempe campus. There have been several Central Plants here at ASU; the first was built in 1906 as a heating plant for the cost of $19,000, but was demolished and salvaged to build a second heating plant in 1917 at a cost of $56,000. A third plant was built in 1937, but it would not be until 1959 that a refrigeration system was introduced to campus. At a total cost of $1,217,870.70, Lowry & Sorenson engineered and constructed the refrigeration system as an add-on to the third Central Plant. Electricity rates skyrocketed with the emergence of AC, and with a large campus to service, cost of electricity was a concern.

By the 1980s, as the University’s energy and cooling needs expanded, David Scheatzle, an alumnus and Professor Emeritus of ASU, proposed geothermal storage as a means to save ASU money on spiking energy costs. His plan involved cooling water used for air conditioning at night when electricity costs were significantly lower, storing this chilled water in underground tanks, and distributing during the day to keep the campus cooled. He received a $10,000 grant to research his proposal of placing thermal tanks underground and worked with Bridgers & Paxton, a company in Albuquerque New Mexico to bring this plan to fruition. The Sun Devil Fitness Complex (SDFC) Intramural Fields is a beautiful lush expanse of green grass, but buried deep below are immense thermal tanks used to store cold water to bring AC throughout the Tempe campus.

AC is a standard feature of the Southwest and everyone moves in an air-conditioned bubble, from home to car, car to class or work, and back again. Peruse the ASU catalog and notice there is no mention of air conditioning anywhere. Living in the wretched triple-digit heat of Arizona without AC is unimaginable, until the AC malfunctions. Then people get a little taste of how early Arizonans felt like without the comfort of air conditioning to ease the stifling heat. Let us appreciate the advances of air conditioning technology and count our blessings that the time of sleeping porches and swamp coolers have paved the way for the AC of today.

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The Victory Acres neighborhood of Tempe highlights the unique story of Mexican-American suburbanization. La Victoria, a tight-knit, predominantly Mexican American, community, emerged during the post-War growth of Tempe and the surrounding region. La Victoria is the story of the perseverance of Mexican Americans in the face of discrimination. The community also survived a highway being built next to it and its partial destruction. The families in this neighborhood played a vital role as the area underwent a change from “rural farmland to urban landscape.”

In 1945, following World War II, local farmers George and Mary Tishbraney decided to partition their eighty acres of farmland into individual plots and sell them to others. They named it “Victory” Acres because the term had become popular in the war effort. Over time, the neighborhood grew to become a mostly Mexican American neighborhood, or barrio. Many of the first families that moved to Victory Acres came after their homes in the old San Pablo neighborhood were destroyed so that the university could expand. But despite their challenges, the people are close and lifelong members of the community remember feeling safe and at home among their neighbors and friends. “Many long-time residents and their families continue to reside here. They are proud of their community and are surrounded by strong ties of memory and friendship.”

Victory Acres was the home of many World War II veterans and their families. The legacy of service to their country continued, and many who lived in Victory Acres went on to serve in the Vietnam War before returning back home to their neighborhood in Tempe. Many veterans, like Carlos Labastida who served in Vietnam, described how their memories of Victory Acres helped them get through the difficulties of the war. He said, “My memories would always come back to the Acres. I swore that if I ever came back alive that I would always walk the streets again. I would remember the Acres so fondly.” David Johnson, the owner of Watson’s Flower Shop in Victory Acres remembered Memorial Day as being one of the busiest days of the year for his family’s business. He described, “On Memorial Day here at the flower shop it would get very busy. Everybody from Victory Acres would come over and buy flowers for their departed relatives or for deceased fathers who had previously served in the military. We would spend all morning selling flowers.” This common characteristic of many of these families having military ties contributed to the deeper community connection.

Places such as Bill’s Market, formerly known as Kalil’s Market, are remembered by many as significant community gathering places. Bill’s Market is especially remembered for the kindness of its owner Mary Tishbraney. This store “provided more than a place to buy groceries,” because “the market owners gave poor residents credit, delivered groceries, sponsored local youth sports teams, and even lent money to people in need.” Other prominent places like St. Margarita’s Church, Tempe Beach, and other sites provided gathering places for the children and community as well. These and many other places served to help establish the very close and interconnected community that Victory Acres is known to be.

Over the years, Tempe became more and more developed. Victory Acres remained where it was while other small neighborhoods were lost in the modernization and redevelopment. The freeway was built right next to Victory Acres, destroying several of the houses, yet the community remained. More recently, the light rail was extended and now passes by Victory Acres as well, but again, the neighborhood stayed where it was. Victory Acres does not have the typical modern development story like the rest of Tempe. It was largely ignored for decades. Not until the mid-1980s did this neighborhood first receive street lighting and paved roads. Because the freeway somewhat isolated Victory Acres from the rest of Tempe, and also because it was a predominantly Mexican American neighborhood, it was not given priority in redevelopment projects and was often the last to receive improvements. Some residents, though they love Victory Acres and have no plans of leaving, expressed some anxieties for their children. They worry about the heavy traffic of the freeway and Price Road being so close, and about a lack of city and recreational facilities for their children’s use. So, although it has come a long way, Victory Acres is still waiting for further city development in certain areas of need.

Although it was not given priority for redevelopments, and much needed improvements took a long time to come to Victory Acres, residents are still grateful that the neighborhood has remained through it all. One man, Elias Esquer, who grew up and still resides in Victory Acres discussed the vitality of the community. “It’s a good model on how to develop a community without destroying it-without having to go in and buy everybody out and sell it to developers which is happening in a lot of cities, it destroys the culture of the neighborhood. La Victoria remains a very stable Hispanic community.” Victory Acres is unique in its resilience to last through the redevelopment of Tempe.

Victory Acres sprang up at the end of World War II and really developed into the neighborhood it is today during the post-war years. Following World War II, the housing economy was booming and there are many trends that are common to see in neighborhoods built in this time. Big companies came in and built houses quickly and so they were very similar in their architecture. Victory Acres houses share some similarities, such as a majority of them being single story and single family homes built by the individuals and families who bought the land. However, there is one significant way in which the Victory Acres neighborhood fit in with the general trend of the post-war suburbs, and that was in its “economic and racial homogeneity.” Many Mexican American families were relocated to Victory Acres when the San Pablo neighborhood was demolished to build up the university in Tempe. Although Victory Acres didn’t start out as a segregated neighborhood, it quickly became predominantly Mexican American and has largely remained that way throughout the years.

Victory Acres is an example of a neighborhood that became a close community and one that tells a unique story of redevelopment in Tempe. Whether through military service or through associations at local gathering places, through struggles and redevelopment, Victory Acres has grown over the years and remains a tight-knit community today.

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Charles Trumbull Hayden was born in 1825 in Hartford County, Connecticut. After moving from Connecticut to Missouri, he began working with a freighting business and traveled to Arizona frequently. In 1870, Charles Hayden and his business associates laid claim to part of the Salt River, which resides in Yavapai County. This land would eventually become the community known as Hayden's Ferry, and in 1879, the community became the city of Tempe.

Throughout Charles Hayden's life, he remained a proponent of education, assisted in acquiring funds from external sources, and even donated personal funds to create the Tempe Normal School in 1885. The Tempe Normal School was renamed the Arizona State Teacher's College in 1928, and in 1958 the college was officially recognized as Arizona State University. Due to Charles Hayden's significant impact on the university and his continued endeavors in Arizona's educational funding and legislature, Arizona State University named the central library on campus after him.

Charles Hayden did not live long enough to see the library dedicated in his name. Still, his son, Senator Carl Hayden, was present. Senator Hayden joined 1,500 spectators packed onto Hayden Lawn on November 22, 1966. During the library dedication, Carl Hayden had the opportunity to speak about his father and the legacy he left behind at Arizona State University and the city of Tempe. He stated, "By these remarks, I'd softly indicate the manner of man my father was, and I am proud to be his son."

During the library's construction in the 1960s, the architects created an office for Carl Hayden, tucked away on the fifth floor. While he did not need this office during his tenure as a Senator, Carl was an avid student and used his office frequently for research. Today, the office has been turned into a museum to honor Hayden and his family. The most significant piece of living history in this space is his Senate desk, donated to Arizona State University by Congress in 1968. Other items in this museum are paintings of Carl, photographs, and some of the books that Hayden himself used.

Today the Hayden Library welcomes approximately 1.5 million visitors annually through the underground entrance. Many of these visitors are students of Arizona State University, seeking refuge in a quiet place to study or digging for course materials in the stacks. What many of these patrons may not know, however, is that the Hayden Library is more than just a space to hold books. In 2016, Hayden Library announced plans to renovate the library and bring it into the 21st century. Since many students have stopped using tangible books in favor of online databases, ASU is adopting a new method of digital curation. Another major project during the remodel is to realign the library's volume collections into student view, allowing for the 4.5 million books to be better utilized.

In 2018, a multi-year renovation of Hayden Library began, seeking to give the library a renewed sense of identity while also hearkening back to some of its original design elements.

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Arizona State University's football program grew dramatically from the first sparsely-attended football games played at Goodwin Stadium to the packed Sun Devil Stadium. It grew in tandem with Arizona State Teachers College (ASTC) as it matured into a full-fledged university. Goodwin Stadium bore witness to that growth. Completed in 1936 for $87,000, the stadium was originally just a set of bleachers with only 5,000 seats. The team playing at Goodwin Stadium was not the Sun Devils of ASU; they were the Bulldogs of Arizona State Teachers College. Over the 19 years that the stadium was used for football, the school saw drastic changes that helped shape ASU into what it is today.

The late 1930s saw the football program start to win as it had never before, and the program also became more diverse, heralding the future of sports in America and the University. The team only won 7 games during its first three years at Goodwin. However, the 1939 team won 8 games and finished the season with a tie in the program's first Bowl Game. The late 1930s also brought about change with the addition of Emerson Harvey. Harvey was the first Black football player, and only the second Black athlete, in school history. Not only did Harvey excel on the field, but he also was fundamental in breaking down barriers on campus. He helped break color barriers across the Southwest as many teams, especially in Texas, had never played against Black athletes.

After struggling in the 1940s, the ASTC Bulldogs morphed into the Sun Devils. During World War II, the school did not field a team, as was the case at many universities across the United States. When football returned after the war, it was not pretty. In 1946, the team went 2-7 and suffered the most humiliating defeat in the school's history: a 67-0 blowout against Arizona. As fan frustration grew, some boosters wanted to give the team a fresh new look. The Bulldog's boosters and other groups formed the Sun Angels, an organization devoted to improving ASTC athletics. They suggested that the school's teams should be called the Sun Devils. After a student body vote, the name was adopted in 1946. The school's mascot, Sparky, was created two years later by a former Disney employee, Berk Anthony. It was rumored that Anthony modeled Sparky after Walt Disney himself.

In the 1950s, the program started to turn a corner as it revamped its rivalry with the University of Arizona (U of A). The Sun Devils had a terrible record against their in-state rivals in previous years. U of A held a 20-2 advantage over ASTC and had not lost a game to them in 18 years. The rivalry was renewed when ASTC clobbered the Wildcats 34-7 at Goodwin Stadium. Between 1949 and 1957, the Sun Devils beat U of A five times. In 1955, Frank Kush came to the University as an assistant coach. When he first saw Goodwin Stadium, he thought, "God Almighty—this is it?" The stadium was just two bleachers with a field that seated 15,000. Compared to the stadiums at higher-profile schools, Goodwin was an afterthought.

Kush would lead the Sun Devils as both the team and the University rose together like a phoenix from the ashes of Goodwin Stadium, which was demolished in 1957. Slated to be replaced by a bigger stadium, built into the Hayden Butte, Goodwin had one last hurrah as the Sun Devils finished with their first perfect season at 10-0. Another first for the football team was getting ranked in the AP poll. The team finished the season ranked #12 in the country. The year's final game would go down as possibly the most critical game in Sun Devil history when the Sun Devils defeated the Wildcats 47-7. This victory and perfect season generated excitement and augured Arizona State University's subsequent great triumph. In 1958, the University promoted a ballot initiative as to whether Arizona Teacher's College could become a full-fledged university on par with the University of Arizona. Overcoming vigorous lobbying by the University of Arizona, the ballot measure passed by a 2-1 margin. Some believed that the previous season's football victory had had an impact on legitimizing Arizona State. Sun Devil Stadium would take over the following year for Goodwin, and Frank Kush would become the new head coach. Kush led the team to new heights and constant national recognition. Still, without the teams that played on the field at Goodwin, ASU might never have reached these accomplishments.

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Valley National Bank served the Valley from its founding in 1900 through 1992. During this time, the Bank's distinctive logo was a common sight throughout the Valley. Its branches often had an iconic architectural design.

Located at the corner of Apache and Rural, the Tempe branch was constructed in 1962 by local architects Weaver & Drover. Many people remember this particular location for the unique design of the building's roof: a gold geodesic dome that R. Buckminster Fuller designed. This unique design choice by the Valley National Bank was a response to the changing architectural trends in the Phoenix Metro Area.

The Bank sought to adopt a retail image centered on consumer services. The location on Apache Boulevard also adopted many new strategies to become a successful bank. The progression of automobile culture in the mid-20th century set the path for some of these strategies used by the Valley National Bank. The Bank's location was essential to its success; it allowed easy automobile access by being located on the corner of Apache Boulevard and Rural Road. This type of auto-friendly access right off the road was an uncommon feature in most urban banks at the time. Another innovation resulting from the expansive automotive culture of the mid-20th century was the introduction of television bank tellers. Now, customers could quickly turn off the road and into the Bank's parking lot to complete their banking business - without leaving the car.

Valley National Bank was very successful and opened several other branches in the Tempe area. However, in the early 1990s, Valley National Bank was purchased by BankOne, and the Apache Boulevard location was subsequently transformed into a visitor center for Arizona State University. The bank building continued to be used by ASU for the next two decades. However, in 2007 the University began construction on the Hassayampa Academic Village on the site of the former Valley National branch. The unique geodesic dome had become a well-known and popular landmark in Tempe. Unfortunately, the building was ultimately deemed unsalvageable after an intense fight by the Tempe Historic Preservation Commission. The plan to demolish the building inspired the local community, with the help of historical preservationists, to fight to save the Bank from the wrecking ball.

Still, the University attempted to save the famous dome, even if they couldn't preserve the building. After two years of hibernation in ASU's surplus yard, the golden dome was re-erected in 2009 at Vista del Sol, a student housing complex across the street from the original Valley Bank site. Some might argue, however, that relocating the dome diminished its uniqueness. Even so, Tempe's now iconic dome still lights the surrounding desert sky, a memory of a bygone age.

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Architect Frank A. Redford inaugurated the use of Teepee designs for mid-century hotels in Kentucky in 1933. This roadside hotel architectural style quickly captured the popular imagination and spread Westward across the country along the growing federal highway system, especially Route 66.

After his first Wigwam opened in Horse Cave, Kentucky, in 1933, Redford patented and sold the designs and rights to use the Wigwam Village name to Frank E. Lewis. Lewis installed coin-operated radios into the hotels and paid Redford a royalty--every dime inserted for 30 minutes of play was sent to Mr. Redford as payment. Lewis constructed six other teepees across the country: Alabama, another city in Kentucky, California, Arizona, Florida, and Louisiana. Located along the burgeoning federal highway system, the hotels emphasized the comforts of home. They included gas stations and restaurants to ensure the tranquility of guests.

The Wigwam lodges' historical import is deeply related to their connection to the roadside culture of the first federal highway system that emerged with the Hayden-Cartwright Act of 1926. Route 66 is perhaps the most mythologized route along that highway, where most of the Wigwam Lodges were built. In his 1939 novel, Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck nicknamed Route 66 "The Mother Road." Evoking Oklahomans' desperate search for freedom and opportunity as they fled the Dust, the book helped to define one aspect of the highway system. Middle-class travelers seeking adventure, truckers carrying shipped goods, and the military all used the roads heavily. Especially with the advent of the family-car vacation, which was popularized by Harry Truman's road-trip return to Kansas City at the end of his presidency, the highway system became a focal point for entrepreneurs seeking tourist dollars through evocative gas stations, motels, restaurants, and attractions.

At least part of the allure of the Wigwam lodges was how well they fit into a broader narrative of the American West that was sold to tourists. Like many other cultural expressions of the period, Redford's design appropriated the form of Native American dwellings used primarily by Plains and Woodland Indian tribes. The particular form of the houses mattered less than the connections the Wigwam lodges made to Native American culture broadly. In a similar vein, the Fred Harvey Company--which famously sold its Western resorts to tourists--hired Pueblo Indians to serve as guides on its "Indian Detours." The particulars of Native American culture mattered little in this performance, as the Pueblo Indians were outfitted in uniforms of feathers and buckskins--evoking the dress of Plains Indians but not their own culture. Accuracy mattered little to tourists whose road trips introduced them to the grand myths of the American West.

The story of the development of the Wigwam Auto Court in Tempe fits neatly into this broad story. The Mesa Tempe Highway--Routes 60, 70, & 80--played an oversized role in developing the Valley as a tourist destination. Highways 60, 70, & 80 converged East of Mesa, running along what is now Apache Boulevard through Tempe and then curving north along Mill avenue into Phoenix, where it split again. Like Route 66, the Mesa Tempe Highway was dotted with unique roadside architecture. Tourists traveled the highway to escape the drudgery of their lives, and the Mesa Tempe Highway became known as the "opportunity road."

A local entrepreneur, Maurice Barth built the Wigwams Auto Court in 1946 (four years before Lewis built a Wigwam Lodge along Route 66 in Holbrook.) Located adjacent to what is now McCalister and Apache, the Wigwam Lodge (as it was later renamed) had the typical tourist amenities, including a swimming pool, shuffleboard court and accommodations for travel trailers. It consisted of six thirty-five-foot tall structures--the only two-story wigwams--and were crafted to give the impression of teepees with their leather skins and lodgepoles. By the late 1960s, the expanding Interstate and Tempe's growth had begun to limit their appeal, and the Wigwam Lodge was converted to apartments. Half of the units were demolished in 1971.

According to preservationist Jay Mark, Arizona State University's expansion ultimately doomed the structures. In 1982 ASU acquired the property and, a year later, bull-dozed the remaining buildings.

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In 1926, well-known architect Frank Lloyd Wright was called to Phoenix to help with the building of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. This was the beginning of Wright's long relationship with Arizona. In the early 1960s, Arizona State University President Grady Gammage wanted Wright to bring a new look to the university, so Wright promised that this structure would be the gateway to ASU. Wright's design for the auditorium was based on an earlier design of his for an opera house in Baghdad, Iraq, which was never built because of the 1958 Iraqi coup d'état. Shortly before construction took place in 1962, the president of the university, Dr. Grady Gammage, passed away. Under Gammage's presidency, the school went from a college to a university, among many other changes and additions. To commemorate his time as president, the new auditorium was named Gammage Auditorium. Gammage Auditorium opened in 1964 and has since been an icon of the university and the western anchor of Apache Boulevard.

Frank Lloyd Wright would have an indelible impact on the architectural modernism of the greater Salt River Valley region. This extended from his landmark Taliesin West to various designs for commercial and non-profit organizations throughout the region. Ironically, perhaps his most interesting design was ever built. In 1957, Wright designed the blueprints for the Arizona State Capitol Oasis. The design featured gardens, fountains, reflective pools, a gazebo, and more. Even though everyone was in agreement that Wright's design was spectacular, the state decided to instead construct a conventional building in front of the original state capitol. When President Kennedy's Secretary of Interior, Stewart Udahl, was later asked why Arizona had the ugliest state capitol, he said "Because we missed the boat and muffed the ball when we rejected the Oasis Design by Frank Lloyd Wright."

In 1964 Gammage Auditorium celebrated its grand opening with a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Today Gammage hosts traveling Broadway shows and musicals, among many other programs that range from presidential debates to musical performances.

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For four decades, The Chuckbox has occupied the corner spot on University and Forest. The little shack consistently serves customers from throughout the valley. It stands as a reminder of the days when Tempe was an old frontier farmland.

The Chuckbox was built to resemble a wooden shack in the Old West, with a sign out front boasting their “real charcoal broiled burgers” and tree stumps for seating on the front porch.

The Chuckbox seems to have an ideal location sandwiched between Arizona State University and Tempe’s downtown. With high-rises popping up throughout the city’s core and Arizona State University’s constant expansion, the little western burger joint practically stands alone in the new high-density construction. Still, The Chuckbox has had a resurgence in popularity, catering to students and staff of ASU. According to the restaurant supervisor, Paul Marquardt, their motto is “If it hasn’t been broken, we don’t need to try and fix it.”

The growth of the Arizona State campus over the years, in student numbers and buildings, has been occurring since the school first opened in 1885, and it will continue to grow to support its increasing student body. The ASU Tempe campus is already 15.9 million gross square feet. While the restaurant has not changed much over the forty years it has been open, the land around it has been experiencing continual change. Downtown Tempe has become a thriving, attractive, diverse destination for tourists. Fans of The Chuck Box hope that the continued growth of Tempe as a whole will increase traffic in the restaurant and ensure that it remains despite the ever-expanding campus nearby.

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Hayden Butte, also known as Tempe Butte, is a 1,500-foot tall mound of rock and dirt covered by desert shrubs, cacti, and history.

The Butte has been here for centuries, but human activity around the Butte began in the 1400s when the Hohokam settled the land. They left behind pottery, petroglyphs, and an extensive canal system.

Charles Trumbull Hayden ran freight wagons along the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri to New Mexico. In 1860 he traveled to Prescott and came across the Butte. Ten years later, he returned and laid claim to 160 acres, opened a ferry across the river, and a flour mill at the base of the Butte.

Tempe Butte is now a preserve owned by the city, with trails going to the top. At the top of the Butte, you can see for miles over the flat landscape. To the right of the Butte is the vast ASU football stadium, and south of that is the ASU campus. ASU also has a 60-foot golden letter “A” on the Butte, which gives it the name of “A” mountain. The Butte is iconic to the city and ASU. Locals have fought many times to keep the Butte intact and free from buildings. The Butte is a landmark that is important to Tempe’s history and is a part of ASU’s history as well.

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As grand as Old Main and just as significant, the building formerly known as the Industrial Arts Building stands as a testament to the growth of Arizona State University from classical education to the research university it is today.

When ASU began, it was a teaching college known as the Territorial Normal School and, later, the Tempe Normal School. The community of Tempe had a lot of influence on the tiny little college. They raised funds to purchase the first 20 acres and outfitted the buildings with furniture and sewer lines.

1912 marked Arizona’s change from territory to state as well as a milestone year for Tempe Normal. This year, the school expanded off of the first 20 acres, purchasing land from nearby individuals and land companies. With the school's enrollment increasing, they needed to find places to house new students and a new curriculum. Thus, the Industrial Arts building was constructed. The builiding was finished in 1914 by Norman F. Marsh and Leland G. Knipe. Knipe was the architect and engineer of a few buildings in Tempe and Phoenix, including Tempe's original City Hall.

This Industrial Arts building marked the beginning of a new curriculum for the school. Instead of instructing their students how to teach classic subjects like math or science, the school moved to a manual labor curriculum. This new curriculum included classes on agricultural mechanics and making furniture.

The building itself has not undergone very much change, but what goes on inside and around it has. It is now the Anthropology Building, home of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. This building has held the offices of world-renowned anthropologists, including the man who discovered Lucy, the most complete ancient hominid found to date. It also houses the Museum of Anthropology, in which students in the museum studies program create exhibits for the general public.

There was a street called College Ave that ran in front of the building until ASU started creating pedestrian-only walkways. More trees and bushes were added to the front of the building int the 1920s. Also of interest is that the building's original windows have all been replaced. This was done for preservation purposes as well as sustainability purposes.

With the construction of the building, the school was breaking away from its teacher's school role and set the stage for its movement from school to college to a full-fledged university.

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