(Editor's Note: Highway US 89's route through Tucson went through this Stove Ave. underpass. Recently, we prepared a little presentation of how the sometimes-water-filled underpass came to be called "Lake Elmira". Until we read Roy Drachman's book "From Cowtown to Desert Metropolis," we didn't realize just how big the deal was when the underpass was opened in January 1936. It was huge! Roy tells the story better than we ever could. This is from Page 58 of the book. So far, we've been unable to find any photos of the dedication or the early 1930's days of the underpass.)
"One of our biggest promotions was the North Stone Avenue Gold Rush. This was a celebration of the completion of the Stone Avenue subway under the Southern Pacific tracks. Stone had been closed to traffic for nearly a year. and the merchants along it were hurting. They readily agreed to put up their share of the $1,000 that was to be given away at the Fox on the night the subway was opened.
The month leading up to that night was a time of much advertising by the Fox and the merchants, who were distributing raffle tickets for the drawing. To claim their prizes, the winners had to hold a ticket to the Fox, as usual. The promotion created a lot of excitement. We knew the theater would be packed, so we rigged up a public address system covering not only the street in front of the Fox but also the several blocks on North Stone between Congress and the subway. This made it possible for those along Stone to hear what was going on on the stage of the Fox.
On stage we had an all-star cast of dignitaries. I had gotten our Arizona congresswoman Mrs. Isabelle Greenway, to participate in the drawings. She was being visited at the Arizona Inn, which she owned, by former vice president Charles Dawes, whom she brought along to appear on our stage. That presence, plus that of the Tucson mayor and a few other important citizens, gave the event a very respectable status.
After the smaller prizes were drawn for and awarded to the winners, the big prize of $500 cash was drawn for. When the ticket number was announced, the winner was about two blocks north of Congress Street. Because the street was closed to traffic, he came running down the middle of the Stone with his wife in one hand and a daughter in the other. I didn't see that because I was acting as emcee on the stage.
The event caused the Fox to have the biggest box office receipts in history. I recall that Harold Steinfeld, who owned Steinfeld's Deppartment Store, told me the next morning that the crowd in downtown the previous evening was the largest he had ever seen."
On stage we had an all-star cast of dignitaries. I had gotten our Arizona congresswoman Mrs. Isabelle Greenway, to participate in the drawings. She was being visited at the Arizona Inn, which she owned, by former vice president Charles Dawes, whom she brought along to appear on our stage. That presence, plus that of the Tucson mayor and a few other important citizens, gave the event a very respectable status.
After the smaller prizes were drawn for and awarded to the winners, the big prize of $500 cash was drawn for. When the ticket number was announced, the winner was about two blocks north of Congress Street. Because the street was closed to traffic, he came running down the middle of the Stone with his wife in one hand and a daughter in the other. I didn't see that because I was acting as emcee on the stage.
The event caused the Fox to have the biggest box office receipts in history. I recall that Harold Steinfeld, who owned Steinfeld's Deppartment Store, told me the next morning that the crowd in downtown the previous evening was the largest he had ever seen."
