TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Downtown Tucson Partnership is inviting the community to stay out later this summer through a new initiative called "The Downtown Experience."
Several museums, restaurants and other partners are coming together to create special after-hours experiences across downtown. When temperatures rise during the day, many families wait until after sunset to head out; and that is exactly what organizers had in mind.
The Children's Museum Tucson, the Presidio Museum and the Tucson Museum of Art are expanding hours every last Friday of the hot summer months, with each location offering unique activities for Tucsonans.
Hilary Van Alsburg, executive director of the Children's Museum Tucson, says the collaboration was intentional.
"These kinds of community collaborations don't come about just willy-nilly. We really put some time and effort into thinking about how we can get people downtown and get to see all these great cultural institutions," she said.
Van Alsburg tells me the initiative reflects what makes Tucson special.
"It's a fantastic collaboration. I think the best thing about the excitement of this is it really reflects the downtown--everything that we've got going on and our fellow museums that are partnering with us, but it's also just an example of how great Tucson is," said Van Alsburg.
The idea is to make downtown Tucson feel like a destination for summer nights—whether that means grabbing dinner, visiting a museum or spending time with friends and family.
Families at the Children's Museum say The Downtown Experience is a great reason to make the trip downtown, even if you don't live nearby.
On July 31 at 6 p.m., Van Alsburg says the Tucson Fire Department will be at the Children's Museum with a fire truck for a wet down for families to enjoy.
Van Alsburg says the partnership with Downtown Tucson Partnership made the expanded programming possible.
"There are wonderful museums downtown. You can always come and visit, but we all have gotten together with the support of Downtown Tucson Partnership and made sure that we can really do something that's an activation in the summer," she said.
You can find event times and dates here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
——
Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
