The Pugh House, circa 1905

With development at a standstill, preservationists are taking stock of buildings that are worth saving. Here are 10 hidden gems they’d like to keep.

From the Pink Pony in Scottsdale to an 1800s-era home in Phoenix to a rusting gas pump in Glendale, preservationists have more than their share of historic properties to keep an eye on in 2010.

Some sites are outright endangered, at risk because of neglect, age or normal wear and tear. Others are more “watch list” worthy. The mix of individual properties and building clusters runs the historical gamut, from tourism to education to transportation.

This isn’t the first time preservationists have had a list. In 2006, for example, Phoenix voters approved a $13 million bond program to fix up historically significant sites. Projects included three stately Phoenix Union High School Buildings, the 1922 Temple Beth Israel, a 1909 home Downtown and more.

Ash Avenue Bridge
Abutment, 1913
Tempe Beach Park, Tempe
Officially the Tempe State Bridge, this was the first major highway bridge spanning the Salt River and the first dependable crossing between Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa for wagons and automobiles. But as soon as it was opened, it was considered obsolete because of its too-narrow design. The Mill Avenue Bridge came along in 1931, forcing the old bridge to close. Demolished in 1991, a small segment remains and will be incorporated into a veterans memorial opening at the site in 2011. As advocates work to raise money for restoration, the bank around the abutment continues to erode.

Buckhorn Bath House, circa 1930s

Buckhorn Baths, 1939
5900 E. Main St., Mesa
For decades, Buckhorn Baths drew scores of health-seekers, tourists, celebrities and politicians for soothing mineral soaks in a desert resort setting. Buckhorn also lured the first Major League Baseball team to the state for spring exhibition games, helping launch the Cactus League.

Original owner Alice Sliger closed the resort in 1999 and has listed it on the market with hopes that it will be preserved. In February, a national advocacy group named the resort one of the 10 Most Endangered Roadside Places for 2010. Preservationists fear for its existence given Sliger’s age (103) and its development-prone location.

Lehi School, 1914
2345 N. Horne St., Mesa
The oldest standing school building in the city, Lehi School is home to the Mesa Historical Museum and its 50,000 historical artifacts from Mesa and around the Valley. The building and an adjacent 1930s auditorium are at a historical crossroads: The site needs costly upgrades (estimates range from $3 million to $10 million) and officials have reduced operating hours because of financial constraints. What’s more, the museum’s popular Cactus League exhibition reopened this year in a more centrally located venue in downtown Mesa. The Mesa Historical Society, which operates the museum, is currently in talks with the city to help ensure the school’s future.

Mahoney
Administration Building, 1912
2500 E. Van Buren ST., Phoenix
The Mahoney Administration Building at the entrance of the Arizona State Hospital is one of the few remaining government buildings in the Valley that dates to the year of Arizona’s statehood. Designed by the prominent firm of Lescher & Kibbey (later Lescher & Mahoney), the building housed executive offices and living quarters for the hospital superintendent’s family. Abandoned in the 1960s for more modern facilities, the deteriorating building now houses dead pigeons. With the state’s centennial fast approaching, plans to turn the building into a visitor’s center and museum hinge on finding funds to restore it.

Morcomb Gas Station, 1935
6024 W. Myrtle Ave.,
Glendale
Historic gas pumps and an adobe house built by the Morcomb family stand in a small park at the city’s “cultural gateway” for motorists cruising by Grand and Myrtle avenues near downtown Glendale. In its early days, long before gas stations stood on every corner, the Morcomb station was a key stop for travelers along Grand Avenue (or US 60). The station sold gas until 1973, and its repair shop lasted through the 1990s. The state is widening and making improvements to Grand Avenue and the city, which owns the site and is awaiting word on how those plans might affect it.

Peoria High School’s
“Old Main” Building, 1922
11200 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria
Old Main has been sitting vacant for more than a year as more modern facilities crop up on campus. Preservationists consider the imposing Lescher & Mahoney-designed building one of the city’s signature historic properties. It is also believed to be the only Valley high school that welcomed Japanese-American students during World War II as the country was interring Japanese-Americans. A citizen committee appointed by the Peoria Unified School District governing board is researching how to reuse the building and pay for costly repairs, but Old Main’s fate remains uncertain.

Fifth Avenue Buildings, 1950s
Old Town Scottsdale
Post-World War II Scottsdale saw its downtown become a fashion and arts hub with galleries, studios and shops that attracted locals and tourists alike. The Fifth Avenue area between Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard was a unique, pedestrian-friendly shopping destination with its covered walkways, curving streets, courtyards and inviting picture windows.

Today, the buildings have aging mechanical systems and the area is prone to redevelopment, both of which may threaten the longevity of Fifth Avenue. A portion of the area has been placed on Scottsdale’s historic property register and city preservationists want to add more of it, though that effort is pending.

Pink Pony, 1954
3831 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
While it operated, Pink Pony restaurant was synonymous with spring training, steak and Scottsdale. It opened in 1949 at the corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street before moving in 1970 to the 1954 Sprouse-Reitz building. Owners Charlie and Gwen Briley transformed the building’s Western-style storefront into a more modern Southwestern look with features like stucco and flagstone on the exterior and Kachina-inspired designs on the doors. Over the years, the Pink Pony became the place to go for baseball greats, fans and locals. Economic woes forced Gwen Briley to close the restaurant in 2009. A sale was pending at press time, and preservationists hope the historic storefront will stay.

Warehouse District,
Early to Mid-1900s
Downtown Phoenix
The district south of downtown – generally bounded by Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, from Madison Street south to Grant Street – holds the largest remaining concentration of historic commercial buildings in the city. The area hosts the earliest Hispanic-owned store in Phoenix, Arvizu’s El Fresnal Grocery (1900), and the Arizona Citrus Grower’s Association packing house (1920). Over the years, various plans to revitalize the area as an entertainment district have come and gone. Some individual projects have been successful, but as many as 16 of the warehouses/commercial buildings are not listed on the city’s historic property register, and many others in the area are vacant or underutilized.

Late 1800s to Mid-1900s
Historic Properties
Downtown Phoenix
Neighborhoods just north of Downtown are dotted with historic properties in danger of being lost or further damaged as they sit vacant. The latest property raising concern is the 1947 Stewart Motor Company building at Central Avenue and McKinley Street (above). The longtime home to Circles Discs & Tapes closed this year and is not on the city’s historic property register, leaving its fate uncertain.

Meanwhile, the circa 1920 Sarah H. Pemberton House at 1121 N. Second St., a rare two-story home in the Evans Churchill area, has been vacant for more than a year and recently went through foreclosure. The 1897 Pugh House at 356 N. Second Ave. is one of the oldest surviving historic houses in the city yet sits vacant, boarded up and fenced off.

Check out our map of the Top 10 places Valleywide that historic preservationists would like to save in the coming years.