Visitor Information Center Now Open at Quartermaster Depot
Date:
11/09/2009 (Last updated: 11/10/2009)Summary:
It's the best of both worlds for locals and out-of-towners alike, as the changing of hands at Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park means both free admission to the park and the new home of Yuma's Visitor Information Center.Contact:
As Part Of City's Three-Year Lease With Arizona State Parks, Historic Site Now Free To Enter
Yuma, Arizona - It's the best of both worlds for locals and out-of-towners alike, as the changing of hands at Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park means both free admission to the park and the new home of Yuma's Visitor Information Center.
The visitor center and the park itself, both at 201 N. 4th Ave., will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week through the winter season. Inside the visitor center, guests will find the information and sale items they were used to finding in both the visitor center and the state park. There will be no charge for admission to the park grounds.
The relocation of the Visitor Center is part of a local effort that saved the Quartermaster Depot from closing its doors. The park was one of several put on the chopping block by Arizona State Parks earlier this year in order to help close the state's budget gap.
But because the park's location in the heart of Yuma's historic riverfront made it crucial to ongoing revitalization efforts, the City of Yuma and the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area stepped up to keep the site open.
Under an agreement approved last month, the city will lease the facility for three years, and the Heritage Area will manage park operations, with YVB providing the daily presence to operate the park as a free admission facility.
The site will continue to be promoted as a "state historic park," and the Heritage Area and Arizona State Parks will jointly fund a State Parks ranger to provide guided tours and professional interpretation during the busy winter season.
"It doesn't get any better than that," Governor Jan Brewer said of the effort on a recent visit to Yuma during which she handed over the keys to the park. Brewer added that the Yuma effort could serve as a model for the rest of the state.
Meanwhile, the new visitor center is still a "work in progress," said Yuma Visitors Bureau Executive Director Bob Ingram, but he urged people to ignore the dust and come on down. "We're still moving boxes around and figuring out what goes where, but we're hoping everyone will come see for themselves what a beautiful resource we have here."
Other offerings at the park also are still in the works, said Heritage Area director Charles Flynn, but the aim will be the same - to get more people into the park.
"We may have concerts, we may have events - we just want to increase the exposure and use of the venue," Flynn said. "It's not just important to the history of Yuma, it's a beautiful spot that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves."
The local commitment to the Quartermaster Depot is not new; the City of Yuma and local volunteers were instrumental in establishing the site as a museum and park, investing more than $1 million towards its preservation during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999, the federal government deeded the land to Arizona State Parks with a covenant that it be used for "historic monument purposes only."
In addition, the City of Yuma has provided more than 75 percent of the park's annual operating budget since 1997. Under the new agreement, the City will provide $166,000 per year toward the park's operational costs and the Heritage Area will take responsibility for expenses in excess of that amount.
The U.S. Army established the Yuma Quartermaster Depot in 1864. Military supplies were brought from San Francisco to the mouth of the Colorado River by sailing ships, then transferred to riverboats for the trip to Yuma. From here, supplies were dispatched to forts throughout the Southwest by 20-mule teams or boat.
The arrival of the Southern Pacific in Yuma in 1877 heralded the end of the Depot's supply function, but not its importance to the development of the region. The site housed a Signal Corps telegraph and weather station until 1891, and a U.S. Weather Service station until 1949. It also was home to the U.S. Reclamation Service in its earliest days: the park includes exhibits on the amazing engineering feats that brought irrigation water to the Yuma Valley - under the Colorado River - in 1912.
Because the Quartermaster Depot stands on high ground safe from the Colorado's frequent floods, some of the oldest and best-preserved buildings in Yuma - and the state of Arizona - are located within the 10-acre site.
YVB's Visitor Information Center can be reached at (928) 783-0071 or toll-free at (800) 293-0071. The state park telephone number, (928) 329-0471, also remains in service.
For More Information
For further information, please contact Greg Hyland, CPM, the City of Yuma's Director of Communications & Public Affairs at (928) 373-5023 or by e-mail or Dave Nash, City of Yuma Public Affairs Coordinator at (928) 373-5015 or by e-mail.
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Media Contacts
Members of the media may contact Director of Communications and Public Affairs Greg Hyland, CPM at (928) 373-5023 or (928) 580-4751, or Public Affairs Coordinator Dave Nash at (928) 373-5015, or (928) 941-0199.
