Indianz.Com > News > Column: Wal-Mart destroying Native ruins in Arizona
"Wal-Mart destroying Native ruins in Arizona
Monday, November 22, 2004
'Nobody predicted the Casa Grande Ruins could go down like this, that after hundreds of years of surviving the elements, standing as testament to a civilization that thrived in the desert more than 700 years ago, the adobe walls could crumble because of a Wal-Mart across the street.
Modern development came slowly to the Casa Grande Ruins. For years, the closest business was the Ruins Village Store, a bar that became a drive-through liquor outlet. Coolidge annexed land that included the monument in 1983, setting the stage for Wal-Mart's entrance in 1999. That's when the city approved construction of a 107,000-square-foot store, with its massive, RV-friendly parking lot, right across the street from the monument. A Blockbuster Video followed, as did a Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Safeway expanded a small grocery store south of the ruins and turned it into a strip mall. Park employees give directions like this to the monument: 'Go just past the Wal-Mart and turn right at Blockbuster.'
Officials with the Casa Grande park saw problems with the Wal-Mart-sparked development across the street. But they did not foresee a squirrel infestation.' "
Monday, November 22, 2004
'Nobody predicted the Casa Grande Ruins could go down like this, that after hundreds of years of surviving the elements, standing as testament to a civilization that thrived in the desert more than 700 years ago, the adobe walls could crumble because of a Wal-Mart across the street.
Modern development came slowly to the Casa Grande Ruins. For years, the closest business was the Ruins Village Store, a bar that became a drive-through liquor outlet. Coolidge annexed land that included the monument in 1983, setting the stage for Wal-Mart's entrance in 1999. That's when the city approved construction of a 107,000-square-foot store, with its massive, RV-friendly parking lot, right across the street from the monument. A Blockbuster Video followed, as did a Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Safeway expanded a small grocery store south of the ruins and turned it into a strip mall. Park employees give directions like this to the monument: 'Go just past the Wal-Mart and turn right at Blockbuster.'
Officials with the Casa Grande park saw problems with the Wal-Mart-sparked development across the street. But they did not foresee a squirrel infestation.' "
posted by Helen Campbell @ 1:35 PM
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