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Kimberly Schmitz, Director of PR
Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitor's Bureau
kschmitz@visitTucson.org
520-770-2143
Tucson Offers Unparalleled Meeting Venues
Tucson's clear skies and opulent resort-spas make the Old Pueblo a popular place for meetings and conferences. While luxury resorts make for incredible and memorable meetings, some of Tucson's most unique and beautiful venues can be found at the city's best-known attractions. From airplane hangars and working cattle ranches, to desert gardens and vaudeville theaters, Tucson's meetings scene reaches far beyond the ballroom.
Dine with desert fauna. The half-century-old Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has gained worldwide repute in the scientific community as an institution committed to researching and protecting the land, plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert region. This three-in-one zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden boasts more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants that span 21 acres of beautiful desert. Group events at the Desert Museum can take advantage of the 270-seat Warded Oasis Theater, equipped with state-of-the-art AV technology. The contemporary, versatile Baldwin Education Building accommodates up to 200 guests for receptions, meetings and formal dinners, and features a spectacular view of the surrounding desert mountains through a glass panel wall that opens up to an outdoor balcony. Group dining options include the fine dining restaurant Ocotillo Café, which seats 60 inside and 30 outside, and the Ironwood Terraces banquet facility, which can seat up to 500 guests in its indoor/outdoor plaza. (520) 883-1380
Soirée beneath a bomber squadron. On the southern side of Tucson, the Pima Air & Space Museum offers one-of-a-kind meeting opportunities in its hangars that house new and historic aircraft from all corners of the globe. Pima Air & Space is the largest aviation and space museum west of the Rocky Mountains, boasting more than 250 aircraft and offering visitors access to a wide array of flight exhibits, from pre-Wright brothers aircraft to space exploration vehicles. In the VIP Aircraft section of the museum, the Air Force One aircraft used by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson is open for exploration, and guests can enjoy replicas of the Apollo Command Capsule and the Mars Rover in the Space Exploratorium & Challenger Learning Center. The Museum's temperature-controlled hangars can facilitate indoor groups from 20 to 700, while the expansive outdoor grounds have nearly unlimited space for special events. (520) 618-4850
Foxtrot back to the Roaring 20s. The Fox Tucson Theatre is not only a movie palace and vaudeville stage - a design that saw its heyday between 1920 and 1945 - it is a piece of art itself. For 44 years the theatre showed films and offered occasional live entertainment, and was the first meeting place of the Tucson Mickey Mouse Club in 1930. One of a dwindling number of historic theatres in the United States, the Fox Theatre is one of the finest examples of its kind. Because the Fox is the only Southwest art deco building in existence, it has been designated as a Nationally Significant Building on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1,200-seat auditorium and lobby spaces of this 29,000-plus-square-foot performing arts venue are available for group events, and the theatre's technical equipment - along with professional staff to help run it - is part of the package. (520) 624-1515
Rustle up some team building. Neither a dude ranch nor a theme park, but a century-old, working cattle ranch, Cocoraque Ranch & Pavilion resides on 16,000 acres of pristine desert terrain just northwest of Tucson. Cocoraque is an authentic western experience, ideal for meeting-goers who crave the open-air, rustic atmosphere of Tucson's cowboy country. Cocoraque offers groups unique venues at both the Cocoraque Ranch House - a two-bedroom, 1200-square-foot burnt adobe home built in the 1890s - and Cocoraque Pavilion. The Ranch House features a mesquite-fired barbecue grill, covered bar on the porch, horse corrals and much more, while the Pavilion is a secluded and completely private desert setting. Cocoraque boasts a covered outdoor dining area, a saloon-style bar, a dance floor with shelter for a band, a bonfire pit and more. Meeting planners can further customize their event by adding a hayride, trail ride or western games such as mechanical calf roping or quick draw. (520) 682-8594
Secret garden in the City. In the posh foothills north of Tucson, Tohono Chul Park offers event planners 49 acres of flourishing desert gardens, historic homes and a variety of open-air settings for a memorable retreat. No matter the time of year, something is always in bloom, and the Park's natural setting is ideal for enjoying Tucson's terrific outdoor weather. Tohono Chul's Demonstration and Performance Gardens can accommodate events from 10 to 200 guests, and although no food or drink is allowed in these areas, guests can rent the gardens in conjunction with other areas in the Park where catering is permitted. To help facilitate a smooth, all-inclusive event, Tohono Chul features in-house catering. The Park also offers its historic West House - a handsome Spanish-colonial home with a plant-filled courtyard and welcoming patio. This building houses the Tea Room - a charming patio eatery - as well as the small-group Chul Room (16 guests) and the newly renovated Wilson Room. The Tea Room can accommodate up to 200 guests and makes a perfect dinner or reception setting, while the tile-roofed, indoor Wilson Room can house 60-70 and faces westward for great sunset views. The Desert Discovery Education Center meeting room is 600 square feet of multi-use space with audio/visual presentation capabilities - ideal for unique meetings. (520) 742-6455
Throw a bash beneath the glass. Twenty-five miles north of Tucson, The University of Arizona - Biosphere 2 offers meeting planners a truly unique setting for conferences or seminars. Originally designed as an airtight replica of Earth's environment, this 7,200,000-cubic-foot sealed glass and welded-steel-frame structure contains five groundbreaking ecosystems beneath its 6,500 windows: An ocean with coral reef; Mangrove wetlands; Tropical rainforest; Savannah grasslands and a fog desert. The entire structure is sealed off from the earth below with a 500-ton welded stainless steel liner. The 40-acre campus that houses Biosphere 2 is also home to 300,000 square feet of administrative offices, classrooms, labs, a conference center, and housing for students and scientists conducting extensive research. Though the on-site housing is reserved for researchers in the "B2 Institute" program, meeting planners can host events in the Biosphere's six conference rooms that can seat from 30 to 180 participants. Biosphere's experienced staff can help coordinate catering from off-site vendors, since the secluded campus does not house restaurant facilities. Audio/visual and technical support are available, and private or specialized Biosphere tours can be arranged. Typical tours include a historical overview of the Biosphere 2 project, a look inside "under the glass" at many of the biological systems within the structure, and discussion of past and current research underway. (520)838-6154
Follow in John Wayne's bootprints. Southern Arizona's premier outdoor western entertainment venue - Old Tucson Studios - features live saloon shows, musicals, thrilling stunts, stagecoach adventures and much more family-style fun. Voted "Best Western Movie Set" by True West Magazine, Old Tucson has served as a film destination for a host of western movies and TV shows, including Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead, Gunsmoke and Little House on the Prairie. Visitors can take in cowboy gunfights and comedy venues, then sit down for some of Old Tucson's mesquite-grilled barbecue at Big Jake's. Kids and adults alike can pan for gold, ride the Wild West Carousel, drive miniature antique cars, practice target shooting at Dead-Eye Dan's or take a ride on the historic C.P. Hunington Locomotive. A fun, unique setting for an event, Old Tucson can custom design its entertainment to fit any function - from saloon musicals and public hangings, to hayrides, private rodeos and Old West gunfights. Old Tucson Studios also caters to planners' dining wishes, from five-course meals to chuck wagon barbecues for groups of 50 to 5,000, with exclusive park rentals available for parties of 1,500 or more. (520) 883-0100
For more information on unique Tucson and Southern Arizona event and meeting venues, please visit the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau online at www.VisitTucson.org (click on "Meeting Planner" tab), or call the Tucson Visitor Information line at 1-800-638-8350.
The MTCVB is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Tucson area as a convention, visitor, and film production destination. It is financially supported by the City of Tucson, Pima County, the Town of Oro Valley, and its nearly 800 individual and business partners.
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