TUCSON CITIZEN: Weds., April 25, 2007
$80,000 donation will build ramada at Saguaro National Park's Rincon Unit
B. Poole
Saguaro National Park's Rincon Mountain District will get a new ramada, thanks to an $80,000 donation from a local real estate development company.
Diamond Ventures Inc., which is building a master-planned community along East Old Spanish Trail near the park, announced the gift this morning in a news release.
"The ramada will serve to enhance the park's education programs and will be a valuable resource for students and park visitors alike," said park Superintendent Sarah Craighead.
The gift will go to Friends of Saguaro National Park, a non-profit organization that supports the park. Plans call for putting the ramada along the Freeman Homestead Trail.
Olivia Velasco, a fourth-grade teacher at Vail's Esperanza Elementary School, has used the park's educational programs and displays with her students, she said in the release.
"I love taking my kids out into this beautiful desert and having them understand what a petroglyph or an arroyo is," she said.