By Debra A. Perry
What a welcoming sight to see when driving into Corona de Tucson (CdT). Ever wonder what went into getting the three new signs located on Houghton and the east and west sides on Sahuarita that border the CDT community?
First, Mr. Bill Sobek, CdT resident, field photographer, and member of the Corona de Tucson Community Alliance (CdTCA) brought the subject up at the September 2018 community meeting of the former Santa Rita Foothills Community Association (renamed CdTCA). Bill’s idea was to “post some signs to help identify us as a community.” The audience of CdT residents overwhelmingly loved the idea, and Bill ran with the concept at the request of CdTCA President Ed Buster. With coordination of the CdTCA and the Southeast Regional Council (SERC), Bill contacted the Pima County Transportation Department and submitted a work order to have the CdT signs installed. In the meantime, while the work order was being processed, Bill painstakingly staked out the specific locations for the signs using the CdT Fire District boundaries as a guide. From there, he worked diligently with Pima County Transportation staff to create the signs and install them.
On Monday, June 3, 2019, the three green and white Corona de Tucson designation signs were installed. The signs were a welcomed surprise to everyone based on the Corona de Tucson Facebook Forum and the CdTCA Facebook pages. In fact, there were 240 Likes/Loves/Wows on the forum, along with 55 comments. It is ironic that many new residents are not aware that they are living in Corona de Tucson. They thought they were living in Vail. The primary reason for the confusion is due to the fact that Corona de Tucson shares the same ZIP code with Vail. That is simply a postal designation and could not be further from the truth as Corona de Tucson is geographically separated from Vail by approximately 8 miles depending on where you start and end your journey.
Many thanks to Bill Sobek, CdTCA, SERC, Pima County, and everyone who helped make it a reality. On behalf of the CdTCA and SERC, Bill continues to work with Pima County to assist with the planning to install a “Welcome to Corona de Tucson” community monument sign on Houghton north of the Sahuarita intersection which was recently the subject of the CdTCA Welcome to Corona de Tucson sign design contest. The winner will be announced shortly.
Debra A. Perry is the director of communications for the Corona de Tucson Community Alliance.
