On Friday April 1, 2016, twenty-four ASU RA members / guests toured the historic Tovrea Castle in east Phoenix.  The persons on the tours were in 2 groups, the first group did the tour at 8:30 and the second “shift” did the tour beginning at 11 am. We enjoyed learning about the history of the property, the cactus dominated landscape and seeing the basement and ground floor of the building.

The restoration of the building to its art-deco design has been well done. Because of some structural and restoration concerns, the upper 2 floors are not available for viewing. The tour lasted about 1.5 hours and was guided by 2 good docents. After the 11 am tour eight of us had lunch at the Stockyards steak house located on Washington not far from the Tovrea Castle.

Tovrea castle is under the management of the city of Phoenix and is a good example how bond elections can benefit citizens. This event is of high interest to the ASU RA members. To secure the April 1^st tickets, the ASU RA purchased the tickets almost a year in advance. Based on the expressed interest, we will arrange another tour of Tovrea Castle in the near future.  

Story by John Brock

Pictures by Joyce Hartman Diaz, Elmer Gooding, and Nancy Stephens