New development threatens Downtown relics

Surrounded by a jungle of buildings and nested on 3rd Street and Portland are the endangered bungalows. They might be torn down to create new multifamily homes.

Wayne Rainey, an artist and owner of the creative studio Monorchid, is a third-generation Phoenician. 

"My great grandfather came here from Texas in the early part of the last century," he said. "They were cowboys."

Over the years, he has watched Phoenix change.

"It was a real city. It was kind of a Wild West city, but it was a pretty vibrant downtown," Rainey said. "And I had the exact opposite experience. By the 70's and 80's, downtown had vacated."

His home, a 104-year-old bungalow, and others like are the few relics that stood the test of time. Now, they are slowly disappearing. 

"We can't remake history. You can't fake it," Rainey said. "And I think that we're really prone to forget that the historic equity that we have is extremely thin already."

Some developers are saying it's out with the old and in with the new, but many like Rainey agree that the fabric of downtown Phoenix is changing in a bad way.

"Typically developers don't stay in the projects they build," Rainey said. "They build them and they flip them and they're out."

Rainey says those buildings, which drive out cheaper bungalows, are not in line with the downtown aesthetic.

"It's so much more interesting to live in the same building that the guy who painted the artwork on your wall [lived in]."

As for the pros, Rainey could go on and on.

"When you have a vibrant, eclectic, interesting city, then you attract headquarter companies," Rainey said. "And that means more money. And that means you get better streets and better fire and better police..."

The silent killer still lurking in homes

As a result of poor housing development, many people are worried about the lead content in their homes. It's the silent killer that lives in people's homes, and yet, very few people know it exists.

"It can cause brain and liver damage, it can cause behavioral problems," said Stephanie Smelnick from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Their program is trying to eradicate homes across the state of lead poisoning. 

"The Lead-Safe Program is HUD's attempt to clean up property that are built prior to 1978 when lead was inside of the paint," Smelnick said.

Older homes in poorer neighborhoods are at most risk, and so are Arizona's youngest. 

"Lead paint can be damaging to children under the age of six," Smelnick said.

The walls, the dust and even the floor can be poisonous for young children. Sunaina Tandon, a young homeowner who bought in a poor neighborhood, had to check for lead poisoning before moving. 

"I could only afford so much so to me it was really important that I had the house or apartment checked for lead poisoning because I am around children so often," Tandon said. " I do babysit and I nanny and I also have a 3-year-old brother, so to me it's really important we deal with this issue."

Smelnick says the problem has to be combatted from both sides. Not only does there need to be awareness of lead in homes, but doctors should also automatically check children for lead poisoning. 

New parking law closes a loophole in accessible parking

Finding accessible parking is rare with only a few spots reserved. But before this new law, some wheelchair users could park their car, but not be able to get out.

It wasn't illegal to park on those stripes next to an accessible parking spot until now. The access aisle, as it is called, helps wheelchair users transfer from their chair to their car, oftentimes using ramps.

Brenna Bean uses accessible parking everyday, and relies on the access aisle to get in and out of her chair without worrying about other cars.

"A lot of people make comments like, 'Oh, you get front row parking!'" Bean said. "Well...we don't care if we have front row parking, we need to get our wheelchairs through."

The new law introduced by State Senator John Kavanagh hopes to close this loophole in laws about accessible parking.

It's still up to cities to enforce the law, which means the law could have inconsistent results across the state.

New teacher program may save full-day kindergarten

PHOENIX-- Governor Doug Ducey's program Arizona Teachers Academy promises to create and retain teachers in Arizona, combatting a decades-long shortage that forced schools to make drastic cuts. 

There are some unlikely benefactors of this new program too. At Starlight Park Elementary, kindergarteners are spending yet another day in school learning numbers with counting blocks. Their teacher, Teresa Gibbs, walks around and offers help.

"...five, six, eight, nine," one little girl says to Gibbs.

"Can you check that for me?" Gibbs responds, "You missed a number."

For Gibbs, programs like the Teachers Academy are a victory for her kindergarteners who just started school and are already at risk of falling behind.

Gibbs has been teaching kindergarten for over a decade. Her students are English Language Learners (ELL), kids who may have never spoken English or stepped into a classroom until now.

"Children who never had these additional exposures--going to preschool or [having] literature in their homes--I think the full day kindergarten better prepares them."

Starlight Park is one of many Title I schools that offer this.

Eileen Guerrero went that route, despite worrying about her daughter's discipline.

"She came in a baby and she came out this full-grown little girl that can read," Guerrero said.

Now in first grade, her daughter, Emma, isn't scrambling to catch up to her peers.

"I like math," she said.

Programs like these are in jeopardy around the state and country, but teachers say it is critical to give English Language Learners the full-day option so they aren't playing catch-up in first grade. Kids can learn the basics, like counting, and learn what matters to them.

"I know how many hearts a squid has," Emma said. "They have three hearts."

Downtown Phoenix theater closes its curtains

PHOENIX––A local downtown theater named Space 55 is taking its final bow after 10 years.

"We give a place for local artists, local performers," said Dennis Frederick, director of 'Ear', an original Space 55 production. "We give them a home."

It's a home they will have to leave. The small, self-made theater was transformed from a bail bonds building and a coffee shop.

"Oh yeah, there's all kinds of weird history here." Ashley Naftule, an actor and writer, said about the space. He joined the theater eight years ago. It was his home, and its inhabitants were his family.

Today, the small storefronts that combine to make Space 55 are home to quirky original plays and underground theater classics. 

"It's a very, very different building, and it has changed over the years," said Naftule.

But no one knows what will become of the ever-transforming space when the theater troupe clears out. 10 years and nearly 30 plays later, Space 55 is closing its location here. It grew with the rest of downtown Phoenix as a witness to its transformation.

But the surrounding high rises came with high costs, forcing actors to get creative with props and costumes.

"We put a lot of pride in doing do-it-yourself efforts," Naftule said.

Space 55 is facing what many have faced before it; High costs prevent these downtown art icons from staying where they began.

Artistic director Duane Daniels says he's working hard to not uproot the family home.

"We wouldn't feel comfortable in Scottsdale," he said. "We're sort of a downtown sensibility."

Despite the financial troubles, Space 55 hadn't crumbled in more than a decade.

"What Starbucks does up the street, somehow we're doing that here," Daniels said. "They're paying market value rent on their building and I'm paying market value rent on my building..."

"...I think that's a pretty amazing accomplishment."