More than 150 residents attended the first community meeting and gave the plans mixed feedback.
By Joshua Bowling | The Republic
Between 275 and 300 Scottsdale residents saw presentations Tuesday for Desert EDGE, formerly known as the Desert Discovery Center Scottsdale, and while many responded to the plans with applause, others booed.
Once outside the auditorium at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, residents praised planners for the scaled-back blueprint for the facility while also criticizing the center’s gift shop, plans for nighttime events and use of preserve land.
The presentation on the proposed facility to educate visitors about desert living featured talks from officials with DDCS, the non-profit contracted by Scottsdale to plan the center; architect Swaback Partners; and interpretive design partners Thinc Design, the firm behind New York’s National September 11 Memorial & Museum.