Pantano Wash and Home Depot

I don't think this parklet has a name or an address. It's at the northwest corner of the parking lot for the Home Depot store on Broadway, a couple of tenths of a mile west of Pantano. More important, it's next to the path that runs along the east bank of Pantano Wash.

Here's the view from the dirt path, which is kind of hidden in the trees:

There are four tables inside the fenced enclosure. The gate locks, but there's no sign with the opening hours. There's almost no shade from morning through mid-day:

Each table has splotches of color. They remind me of a child's work. You can see the Home Depot parking behind the table:

Hours: Unknown… probably during the day at least. There's a streetlight over the path that comes up from the wash, and there should be light from the parking lot too.

Parking: Home Depot lot.

Location: Across from the Home Depot Garden Center

Rosendo S. Perez Parklet

This pocket park may look familiar. It's on the south side of the former La Pilita Museum, just down the street from The El Tiradito Shrine and El Minuto Restaurant. The museum is closed, but this little spot is open.

As of this writing, the Tucson City page for the park is being developed. For now, it basically says:

This park is named in honor of Rosendo S. Perez who led neighbors in saving the park area and who spearheaded the effort to get El Tiradito Wishing Shrine on the National Register of Historic Places.

As you can see in the three photos below, you can sit around the compass and the fountain. (By the way, this area once had springs where people could drink, wash laundry, etc. As other springs around Tucson, this one is long-gone. Maybe the dry fountain is symbolic?) These photos are from September 28, 2016:

You can see some of the last ten years' history, and closeups of the blog, by starting from The Tucson Murals Project blog entry La Pilita Museum and then following the links at the end of that page.

Location: Just south of the Convention Center.

Parking: Street parking. Unless you park a few blocks south, you'll pay at a meter. (Or eat at El Minuto. I think the lot just south of the restaurant is free.)

Hours: Daylight hours

Brandi Fenton Memorial Park

Brandi Fenton passed away in March, 2003, at age 13. (Click there to read her obituary from the Arizona Daily Star.) Now a big park with sports fields — and a smaller Community Garden (which we'll focus on here) — are a memorial to her. This park has two main parts. The Garden is nestled in the bigger part: sports fields, a splash park, ramadas, an equestrian area…

There's much more on the park's TucsonTopia page. The Pima County page includes “Reserve a Ramada” a signup form and ramada photos, and more info about the park.

Now for some photos of the Community Garden:

More photos are on the Tucson Murals Project blog in the June 26, 2012 page Brandi Fenton Memorial Park.

Location: For the Community Garden, enter from the corner of Alvernon & River. (If you're coming from the east on River, continue through the stoplight into the park.) For most of the sports fields, enter from Dodge just south of Alvernon.

Hours: 7 AM - 10 PM. There are lights in the parking area and at the sports fields.

Parking: on-site

Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Park

Here's a small(ish) park where you can celebrate 2018 without — Tucsonans hope — any more senseless gun violence. Before he sent me these photos, David Aber wrote on April 4, 2017 (with a few edits from me about your computer):

These photos cover the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Park. Christina was a nine year old girl who was killed by an assassin’s attempt on the life of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

If you'd like to see the Concept Plan for the Memorial Park, click there. North is to the right. (Your computer might ask to save this instead of letting you see it. Save it in a file on your Desktop, then click on it to view.)

This two-acre pocket park is along the CDO wash at the intersection of North Shannon Rd. and West Magee Rd. It is designed for walkers, riders and bikers to stop and take a break as well as for families to relax and contemplate. From what I saw, it appears most everything called for on the concept plan has been accomplished. The flowers, plants and bushes have only recently been planted so it will be awhile before they are able to cover the bare spots.

Pima County's web page (which seems mostly out of date as of this writing) says the park has: Drinking Water, Equestrian Access, Restrooms, Walking Paths, Cycling, Horseback Riding, Walking with Dogs, and Wildlife Viewing.

Here are an Arizona Daily Star news article about Christina-Taylor and the park: Born, died between 2 tragedies and a page from the christina-taylorgreen.org website: Other monuments and memorials to Christina-Taylor.

Now, on to David's photos. In case you can't see, each park bench has a different design. Click on any photo for a larger view:

Update (February 5, 2018): I stopped by today. The flowers in David's last photo are gone, of course (after almost a year). There were bouquets in Christina-Taylor's arms:

Location: The park is at the southwest corner of Magee and Shannon; it runs between Shannon and the Cañada del Oro Wash. The entrance is on Shannon not far south of Magee.

Hours: Daylight hours.

Parking: There's a small parking lot on-site. The huge lot at the Northwest YMCA is across Shannon; I'd guess that they won't mind if you park there — there's a path from the northwest corner… you can walk from the west or (maybe) the southwest sides of the Y lot.