The improvement projects at the Sunnyslope Village Alliance (SVA) and its neighboring Sunnyslope History Museum have finally wrapped up—and now its time to celebrate.

The two organizations will mark the termination of the 6-year storefront project from 4:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, in their shared parking lot between 755 and 737 E. Hatcher Road.

The parking lot serving both groups is paved and there is a new roof on the SVA office, which originally was a single-family home built in the1940s. The museum has a new sign and a covered walkway. There is new courtyard behind the museum where meetings will take place and people can sit on benches and enjoy the landscaping.

It was a day Sunnyslope Historical Society members Jim and Connie Kreamer and Bobbie Kraver (right) had dreamed of for nearly five years: the paving of the graveled parking lot shared between the Sunnyslope Village Alliance and the Sunnyslope History Museum (photo by Teri Carnicelli).

Representatives from SVA and the Sunnyslope Historical Society have worked hand-in-hand with the city of Phoenix’s Neighborhood Services Department on this project. Applications were submitted to the department in 2002 requesting storefront improvement grants for both the SVA office and the Sunnyslope History Museum. The grant applications were written by Bobbie Kraver, a past board member and current volunteer with the Sunnyslope History Museum, and Ron Gawlitta, a board member of the SVA.

Committees from both groups met with representatives of Neighborhood Services. After permits were issued, the city decided that the two applications should be combined into one inclusive grant. It sent both organizations back to the drawing board—literally.

“The architect had to make changes and permits expired,” explains Kraver. “You must keep in mind that most of the application work done was pro bono or by volunteers, because SVA and the museum did not have money to pay these wonderful professionals.”

Once new plans were drawn up and re-submitted to the city, the grant funds were awarded to the joint project, which fell under the umbrella of the Neighborhood Commercial Rehabilitation (NCR) Program. The NCR committee in charge of the project, which was co-chaired by Kraver and Gawlitta, scheduled a pre-bid meeting for area contractors, but had to postpone it not once but twice due to the illness of some of those involved. Ultimately, the committee mailed out project information to several construction companies with details on the specs for the project. Three companies put in bids. Time had gone by and prices of materials and labor had gone up. Two of the companies did not have the correct building licenses. The third bid was significantly over the amount specified in the application.

    “We had to go back to the City Council and ask for more money,” Kraver recalls.

    In the meantime, the inside of the old People’s Pharmacy was finished, thanks to the work of dedicated volunteers like Jim Kreamer, Hal Hall and Otis DeHart, and a Certificate of Occupancy was issued.

    The outside of the buildings, however, were still in poor shape and the parking lot and landscaping had not been done.

    “We hired Stantec Consulting Company to take over the administration of this whole project,” Kraver says. “Of course it was back to the City Council for money and permission to do this. Years were flying rapidly. Through the help of Councilwoman Peggy Bilsten and Mayor Gordon, we finally got all our applications, permits and bid packs in order.”

    The bids came in, and Mesa’s Spire Engineering was the successful company. Spire completed the parking lot, roof replacement, landscaping, watering system, and covered walkway projects. But none of it could have been accomplished without the dedication of the volunteers from the SVA and the Sunnyslope History Museum, who stayed in it for the long haul.

    “Thanks to all the hard work by the Sunnyslope community, their donations, pro bono work and their persistence, you can now see what a new face for the Sunnyslope History Museum and the SVA Community Action Office will do for our pride,” Kraver says.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and District 3 City Councilwoman Maria Baier are scheduled to kick things off during the Oct. 2 celebration. Linda Rushton, president of the Sunnyslope Historical Society, will be the Master of Ceremonies for this event. There will be cake, cookies, punch and coffee donated by Food City and Fry’s. There is no charge. Children are welcome.