Creative Placekeeping
Ajo is a former mining town and a remote, rural Colonia near the US/Mexico border in Southern Arizona. Since mining operations shut down in the mid-1980’s Ajo has been mired in perpetual recession resulting in 34% of the population at or below poverty level and a 25% unemployment rate. With such challenging economic circumstances, Ajo is desperate for a fresh base industry and expanded opportunity. Toward this end, the International Sonoran Desert Alliance has been focused on creative reuse and revitalization of the historic town center for the past fifteen years. At the core of these creative reuse projects have been artists and culture bearers helping to strike a balance between the historical identity of a structure and the new use profile. We believe this balance of honoring and unpacking the past while making space to adapt to a changing future is at the core of Creative Placekeeping done well.
historic ajo plaza
In the summer of 2008, ISDA purchased Ajo’s town plaza and began what will be a long and rewarding process of restoration and revitalization. The historic plaza was built in phases beginning in 1916 with completion in 1947. At the point of purchase, two-thirds of the plaza’s 90,000 square feet of commercial space was vacant. Since then, several new businesses have opened and the Ajo District Chamber of Commerce has relocated to the old train depot at the east end of the Plaza. The plaza with its beautiful center park is truly Ajo’s town center—a place for festivals and celebrations, morning walks, and meeting friends for coffee. When restored, it will once again be a thriving economic center, a perfect stopping place for many of the more than a million cars that drive right by each year en route to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and the sea coast in Mexico.
curley school
A highlight of Ajo's historic town center is the Curley School Campus, an unmissable landmark. The school closed in 1995, when a new K-12 campus opened across town. The not-for-profit International Sonoran Desert Alliance purchased the property and converted two of its three main buildings – the stately 1919 main building and the 1930s “J-Wing” - into the Curley School Artisan Apartments. These beautiful, affordable live-work apartments, designed by Tucson Architect Richard Fe Tom, put Ajo on the map as a center of creativity and artistic endeavor. The entire redevelopment process cost approximately $9.6 million from 11 different funding sources .
sonoran desert inn and conference center
In 2011, ISDA began renovations on the third Curley school building, an elementary annex added in the 1940s, to transform it into the Sonoran Desert Inn and Conference Center. Architect Rob Paulus of Tucson came up with the design, which we call “Southwest Industrial.” The aesthetic elegantly blends the heritage of the building and the spirit of the region, retaining original school features and complementing them with warm tones, mountain views, and desert landscaping. Creating this remarkable facility was a labor of love by the Ajo community. The Center served as a job-training site for Ajo residents: apprentices in ISDA’s Registered Apprenticeship program worked with local contractors to renovate the building. Youth in ISDA’s Get Going Get Growing Internship partnered with the Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture to create the gardens, orchards, and chicken coop in the courtyard. The facility includes 21 sleeping rooms, a 12-bed dormitory, a lounge, 4 multipurpose classrooms, a commercial kitchen, a clay studio and a wood shop.