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Cesar Chavez held his nonviolent protest at Santa Rita Hall. Now the Phoenix building will be rehabbed

Labor rights leader Cesar Chavez’s workers' fast of 1972 drew much national attention, bringing prominent political figures from all over the country to Phoenix. Chavez chose Santa Rita Hall, just south of downtown Phoenix, as the place of his water-only fast, in an act of nonviolent protest.

The location of the workers’ fast was important to Chavez.

“Being centrally located, I think Cesar was happy with that, and decided that would be his place of fast," said Jose Cortez, a former organizer and bodyguard of Cesar Chavez. Cortez says he and another man helped save Santa Rita Hall in 2000, when they saw the condition the building was in.

“I mean, the weeds were waist high. There was piles of junk and debris piled in front. And I said, 'god, this is horrible,'” Cortez said. “This is the building where history was made. This is where Cesar fasted.”

The other man that helped clean up the building was Jose Habre, who goes by Casper, a board member at Chicanos Por La Causa, a nonprofit organization advocating for underserved individuals and communities.

Jose Cortez and Casper outside of Santa Rita Hall
Jose Cortez
Jose Cortez and Casper outside of Santa Rita Hall

Cortez and Casper wanted to preserve the building and educate the community on how important it is.

“Why don’t we get the board to move on this and buy Santa Rita?” Cortez said.

Cortez and Casper brought the state of the building to CPLC’s attention, particularly then-President Pete Garcia.

“He listened to us. He liked our idea, he went to the board and moved on it. The board decided that they would make an offer, and they bought Santa Rita,” Cortez said.

Chicanos Por La Causa has had ownership of the building ever since.

In 2022, then-President and CEO of CPLC David Adame committed to set aside money to help recover the building. Adame resigned in October 2023.

Fast forward to 2024, the construction and rehab of the building has officially gotten underway.

Nic Smith, vice president of Real Estate Development for CPLC, said, “We hope to be completed with the building by the end of the year."

Smith says they have major plans to bring the building back to life.

“So everything from the infrastructure of the building, all the way to the roof, as well as windows, power, water, sewer,” Smith said.

To kick off the renovation, Smith says the makeover is currently being funded by “private dollars” as part of the first phase.

The second phase will include federal dollars, as part of the Cultural Corridor and the Land Reuse Strategy from the city of Phoenix Aviation Department.

“We see this building as being just the beginning of a much bigger plan,” Smith said. “That time is really where the federal dollars make the most sense to come in and sort of help out when it comes to the context of the building.”

Part of the bigger plan includes other buildings in the area of Santa Rita Hall. While CPLC is not in charge of everything outside of Santa Rita Hall, the Cultural Corridor is in place to reconnect buildings like this one to others in the area.

Cesar Chavez is removed from Santa Rita Hall during his 1972 fast.
Jose Cortez
Cesar Chavez is removed from Santa Rita Hall during his 1972 fast.

Jordan Feld, the Deputy Aviation director with Sky Harbor, is helping people understand what exactly the Land Reuse Strategy will do to the neighborhoods west of the airport.

“These legacies in our history exist in this area. And so the cultural corridor would tell that story,” Feld said.

The neighborhoods include El Campito, Cuatro Milpas, Ann Ott, Green Valley, and San Juan Batista.

“It would also provide enhanced mobility, better safety, so, you know, enhanced street lighting, better crosswalks, things like that,” Feld said.

Feld says they have a $10 million grant, specifically for the cultural corridor, to aid in improving all kinds of things in the area. Feld acknowledges that people in the area want to see progress, but the timeline of the grant is stretched out over many years, expiring in 2033.

“I don't mind that 2033. Because if not for environmental analysis and community outreach, yeah, we could probably start the construction within two years. But that wouldn't necessarily lead to the best outcome, right,” Feld said.

Feld says they plan on exhausting the funds and being done with the project before then. For the remainder of 2024, Feld and the Aviation Department plan to identify more priority parcels that they want to bring to city council.

Keller Brown was an intern at KJZZ in 2024.
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