Phoenix will use $3.2 million of proceeds from a 2006 bond authorization to purchase property in north Phoenix that includes the Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum. The city will lease the land to the foundation that operates the museum.
The city will also use bond proceeds to build a water line to hook up with the property. The cost of that project is expected to be $2 million.
Phoenix Councilwoman Thelda Williams said at a recent civic club meeting that the city would purchase the land from the Arizona State Land Office.
The Pioneer Arizona Foundation currently leases the land from the state for $40,000 a year.
The foundation will pay the city an annual lease of $1,200 and in turn it will admit 1,200 low-income students at no cost.
The pioneer museum’s 26 buildings include a church, jail, blacksmith shop, and an opera house. It attracts some 40,000 visitors a year, most of whom are students.
The debt proceeds are part of a $878.5 million general obligation bond issue approved by Phoenix voters in March 2006.
