The Story of the Gift
On the corner of Court Avenue and Council Street, in the heart of Tucson's oldest neighborhood — El Presidio — stands a Sonoran adobe that the Commission has called home for four decades. Pima County records it as parcel 117-10-1360, legally "Tucson Resub Block 179, Lot 6": a 3,557-square-foot adobe the County Assessor dates to 1913 and which meets State Historic Preservation Office historic standards.
The Commission renovated the building and dedicated it on Women's Equality Day — Sunday, August 26, 1984, commemorating the passage of the 19th Amendment. Its own invitation called it "the Tucson Women's Commission's renovated 100-year-old adobe building," and the day paired a Southwestern Women's Art Invitational, the kickoff of the Women's Vote Project, and the first cablecast of the Tucson Women's Cable Consortium. Lewis "Lew" Murphy was Mayor of Tucson.
For years the building was the Commission's home but the City's property. That changed at the turn of the millennium. The City of Tucson conveyed the building to the Commission by Quit Claim Deed, recorded November 6, 2000 in the Pima County Recorder's office at Docket 11419, Page 1063. Bob Walkup was Mayor. The Commission's Executive Director recorded the milestone in the November 15, 2000 report in the plainest possible words:
A corrective Quit Claim Deed followed on September 25, 2008 (Docket 13399, Page 441), cleaning up the original. Today the adobe is owned outright by the Pima County/Tucson Women's Commission — one of very few women's commissions in the country to own its own historic home. That is the gift. What follows is how to make the most of it.
The Building at a Glance
| Address | 240 N. Court Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701 (corner of Court Ave. & Council St., El Presidio Historic District) |
| Parcel | 117-10-1360 |
| Legal description | Tucson Resub Block 179, Lot 6 |
| Owner of record | Pima County Tucson Women's Commission |
| Structure | Adobe office building, 3,557 sq ft · Assessor construction year 1913 · lot ≈ 4,600 sq ft |
| Historic status | Meets State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) standards; within the El Presidio Historic District. A historic tax classification (Class 7) was held but expired in 2014. |
| How acquired | Quit Claim Deed from the City of Tucson, recorded Nov. 6, 2000 (Docket 11419/1063); corrective deed 2008 (Docket 13399/441) |
| Prior use / renovation | Roof/adobe repair permit in 2003 (~$60,000). Grand opening 1984. |
What It's Worth
The building was never formally appraised at either milestone. In 1984 the City carried its value only "informally," and even at the 2000 deed the Commission's insurers were still requiring "a professional assessment of the property value beyond that which the City did informally." In other words, this was a civic gift whose worth was never reduced to a dollar figure at the time. The first hard numbers we have are the County Assessor's, and they tell their own story.
Assessor Full Cash Value, by year
The land alone has held steady at $69,000; the rest is the structure. The swing — up to ~$286K in 2024, then down to ~$189K — is worth a question to the Assessor, as it may reflect the adobe's condition (the moisture damage flagged in 2000) or a valuation reset. Most striking is the Assessor's own replacement-cost-new estimate of $601,210 — what it would cost to rebuild this structure today. That is the truest measure of the gift: a building the Commission could not afford to buy or build, given to it outright.
What it costs to hold today: the Commission is not fully tax-exempt — it carries a large partial charitable exemption and pays a modest property-tax bill of about $527 in 2025 ($514 in 2024), fully paid, with a $0 current balance. A fully-taxable commercial bill would run roughly $3,000–$3,700; the exemption already absorbs most of it.
The Deed & Its Stipulations
What we can confirm from the public record: title passed by Quit Claim Deed (a deed that transfers whatever interest the grantor holds, without warranty), recorded Nov. 6, 2000, with a corrective deed in 2008. What we cannot yet confirm is whether the gift carried conditions — a required charitable/commission use, a reverter clause returning the building to the City if it stops being used for its purpose, or historic-preservation covenants. Those terms, if they exist, live in the City of Tucson Mayor & Council ordinance or resolution that authorized the conveyance in 2000 — not in the Commission's own files, and not posted online.
Knowing the terms matters before any strategy below: a reverter or use-restriction changes what the Commission may do with the building (rent it, mortgage it, sell it, or place an easement on it). The records request at the end of this brief is written to get those exact terms.
Recommendations: How to Maximize the Gift
Five moves, sequenced so the early ones (which cost little and reduce risk) unlock the later ones (which raise money and profile). Several sit squarely in the Commission's wheelhouse — and in the fiscal-sponsorship model this Commission helped pioneer.
🛡️ 1. Protect & clarify
- Pull the 2000 ordinance (records request below) and read the exact deed terms before anything else.
- Confirm insurance is current at replacement value (~$600K), not the ~$189K assessed value — historic adobe costs far more to rebuild.
- Re-apply for the historic property tax classification (the Class 6/7 that expired in 2014). Be clear-eyed on the payoff: with property tax already only ~$527/yr, the tax savings are modest (likely under a few hundred dollars). Its real value is grant eligibility, protection, and prestige — and it becomes financially important mainly if the building is ever rented for income.
🏛️ 2. Preserve the adobe
- Commission an updated adobe conditions assessment (the 2000 report flagged moisture wicking up from the ground) and a phased preservation plan.
- Pursue SHPO / Arizona Heritage Fund preservation grants and National Trust for Historic Preservation programs — ownership + historic status makes the Commission eligible.
- Court in-kind help from local adobe restoration specialists and UArizona's Heritage Conservation / architecture programs.
🏷️ 3. Name & designate
- Petition Mayor & Council (or the County) to officially name it — e.g. a "Women's Heritage Building / Casa de las Mujeres" — as a 50th-anniversary act.
- Pursue local historic landmark designation and a state/National Register marker for the building specifically (beyond the district).
- Install a permanent bronze plaque telling the gift story, unveiled at the 50th.
💵 4. Activate for revenue
- Event & venue rentals — El Presidio is prime for receptions, showers, board retreats, and small weddings; a historic women's adobe is a distinctive rental.
- Heritage tours & programming — tie into El Presidio and Tucson Museum of Art walking tours; host a standing women's-history exhibit.
- Named-space & legacy giving — a rooms/garden naming menu and a "buy-a-brick" or paver legacy wall in the courtyard.
🎉 5. Fund it through the 50th
- Launch a Building Preservation Fund / capital campaign at the 50th, with the replacement-cost figure ($601K) as the anchor ask.
- The donation vehicle is live. "Pima County–Tucson Women's Commission, Inc." (EIN 86-0708408, 501(c)(3) since 1992) is current and in good standing — verified against the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (on the Pub 78 list, Code PC, Form 990-N filed through 2024). It just files the small-org 990-N e-Postcard, which is why third-party trackers made it look dormant. Keep filing the 990-N annually and the AZ Corporation Commission report, then grow a preservation endowment. (Gifts via ActBlue Charities are also deductible through ActBlue Charities' own 501(c)(3).)
- Recruit corporate & civic sponsors (banks, El Presidio businesses, women-owned firms) to underwrite named preservation projects (roof, courtyard, ADA access).
📣 6. Tell the story
- Make the building the centerpiece of the 50th: a rededication ceremony on Court Ave., the plaque unveiling, and a "40 years home / 50 years strong" theme.
- Add this brief's story to the archive review, the Legacy Book, and the public site.
- Invite the original 1984 commissioners and mayors' offices to the rededication for press and continuity.
The Records Request (copy-ready)
Send to the City of Tucson City Clerk (cityclerk@tucsonaz.gov) and, for the deed itself, the Pima County Recorder. This asks for the authorizing action and any conditions.
The deed documents themselves (Docket 11419/1063 and 13399/441) can also be pulled directly from the Pima County Recorder's online records by docket & page.