Tucson Bulldozed Its Own Barrio to Build a Convention Center

Tucson’s downtown barrios — adobe townhouses built for Mexican ranching families — were the heart of a Mexican-American commercial and residential district known as “La Calle.” A March 1966 bond election approved borrowing $14 million to acquire and clear 80 acres; by 1968, the most densely populated 80 acres in Arizona had been leveled, displacing 735 residents and 142 businesses. In their place rose the Tucson Convention Center, city hall, courts, a hotel, and the colorful “La Placita Village” complex (1973–74) — built around just three surviving structures: the Samaniego House, the Fish/Flin Building, and the Stables. The decision remains locally controversial, documented in historian Lydia Otero’s book La Calle. In a final irony, La Placita Village itself — built on the ruins of the barrio — was demolished in 2018 for new apartments.