Dedication Set for Gateway to Phoenix Rio Salado Restoration Project

May 29, 2001

A project to restore the native habitat of a section of the Salt River will take another big step forward June 4 when city of Phoenix, county, state and federal officials gather to dedicate the Gateway to Phoenix Rio Salado. The official news conference/dedication ceremony will run from 8 to 8:30 a.m. at Central Avenue at the Salt River (northeast side). Guided tours of the Gateway will follow. Refreshments will be available at 7:30 a.m.

The Gateway is a biker and pedestrian plaza. It consists of a plaza landscaped with native riverbed vegetation and a large shade structure that opens out toward the river. Interpretive stained concrete tiles created by a local artist, who used objects donated by the community in the designs, adorn the shade structure columns. The name describes its role as the "gateway" into the heart of the Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project.

"The Gateway is a very tangible symbol of progress in our efforts to transform a section of the Salt River bed from a wasteland into a thriving riparian habitat," said Project Manager Karen Williams.

The Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project will cover a five-mile bank-to-bank stretch of the Salt riverbed from the Interstate 10 bridge to 19th Avenue. It will create a 580-acre desert river habitat consisting of streams, ponds and wetlands, stands of cottonwoods and willow trees, mesquite groves, desert grasslands and shrubs.

It is being constructed through a partnership of the city of Phoenix, the Maricopa County Flood Control District and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Media Contact:

David Urbinato Pager Joyce Valdez

(602) 262-4994 (602) 673-5681 (602) 262-4996