By Gary Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Mesa knows all too well that celebrating the arrival of a game-changing development is one thing, and having it become reality is another.
Five years ago, there was going to be a $250 million sports resort on the former site of Riverview Golf Course. Four years ago, there was going to be a $1 billion resort complex just east of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
A brutal economy sent both to the graveyard before so much as a shovelful of dirt was turned.
Mesa celebrates Goldwater Library; museum may open in 2016
Now Mesa has roped in another big-deal project: The Barry and Peggy Goldwater Library and Archives, whose prospective construction at First Avenue and Macdonald was announced last week.
The library represents a major coup for Mesa, which never was closely associated with the Goldwater name but lured the project after talks between Phoenix and the library broke down.
Between now and the tentative opening date of early 2016, however, the library must address these major concerns:
Also: Mesa mayor: I backed out of stadium talks/KTAR