By Diane C. Taylor
Brothers Garett and Dylan Simpson, students at Cienega High School in Vail, were in search of a project to earn their Eagle Scout badges. The Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum, at 196 N. Court Avenue, needed repairs and new benches and tables for visitors. The two connected, and now the museum has its benches and tables and the two 17-year-old brothers are a step closer to becoming Eagle Scouts.
The Presidio Museum is a hidden gem in the heart of downtown Tucson. Today’s museum, opened in 2008, is at the northeast end of the original Presidio, or fortress, where Tucson began. Funded as part of the Rio Nuevo District and run mostly by volunteers, it offers a look at life along the Santa Cruz River from 1200 B.C. through the Spanish Mexican Period (1775-1856), when the Presidio was most active, up to 1912.
As part of the Eagle Scout badge, the brothers had to come up with an idea, realize it and supervise the realization. They didn’t do the actual building themselves, though, while one supervised, the other often worked. The two covered the cost of materials and made a small donation to the museum through a GoFundMe campaign. The project was completed over several weeks during the summer. At the end of May, Garett and Dylan worked with brother Devin and their dad at the Presidio to repair three 11-year-old rickety barracks beds at the museum.
Dylan took over at home in June and supervised several father/son groups who built eight benches. Garett completed three tables with a second group in July. A bonus was the Simpsons’ neighbor, who had the necessary tools and skill to cut the wood pieces according to the two scouts’ measurements. The pieces built in Vail, all made to look as though they were built in the late 1800s, were delivered to the museum at the end of July.
The two brothers will now continue with other projects toward becoming Eagle Scouts, scouting’s highest level of achievement. The Presidio Museum welcomes volunteers of all types. Contact Ginger Thompson at gingert@TucsonPresidio.com for more information. Visitor details are at TucsonPresidio.com.
