Development of Phoenix Mine site moves forward
by Kathleen Stinson

CAVE CREEK – The Town of Cave Creek is working on plans to redevelop the Phoenix Mine site near Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area.

In 2001, the town purchased the 38‑acre property, originally the Hard Rock Gold Mine which  opened in 1880. The site has remained undeveloped since operations closed down in 1985, after a Canadian company tried to strip‑mine the area, according to Wayne Anderson, town engineer.

“Rather than developing the Spur Cross conservation area, the town hopes to take the mine site, which is all torn up, and put parking and public facilities on the site and save the pristine Spur Cross area,” Anderson said.

Cave Creek is considering for the site an open‑air amphitheater, a Spur Cross conservation area visitor and education center, museum, parking facilities, equestrian operation and staging facilities, as well as multi‑use trails.

Anderson points out Cave Creek bought the Phoenix Mine property to save it from private development. 

Redevelopment of the site will provide a vital, functioning amenity and gateway to the 2,154‑acre Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, which is an important open‑space resource and recreational area for the community, a town press release states. Cave Creek will take into account the unique scenic qualities of the Sonoran Desert, public safety and conservation of the history of the site in the plan.

The town has been working on getting clearance from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality because the area has a heavy concentration of arsenic and lead, Anderson said. It is filing a Declaration of Environmental Use Restriction to get that clearance.

Cave Creek received a $165,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to pay for the clearance, testing and land‑use plan.

Public involvement through community input, facility siting and integration, infrastructure assessment, construction phasing, cost estimating, environmental site restoration and landscape planning are elements the town is including in the redevelopment process, the release states.

Comments may be submitted by e‑mail at wanderson@cavecreek.org.