Heritage Square Trust

Heritage Square Trust presents cultural and educational events on Heritage Square enriching our community by exposing thousands of people to high-quality arts.

Heritage Square Trust has been presenting fee events on Heritage Square since 1999. Since the Square was built Heritage Square Trust has hosted over one thousand events on the Square attracting more than 250,000 attendees. In 2011 Heritage Square Trust was awarded the Organization of the Year by the Viola Awards.

Around 1992, downtown Flagstaff began a transformation The central downtown building that had been boarded up for years were either torn down to make way for new ones, or historically renovated. A special improvement District placed brick pavers, streetlights, park benches and garbage cans thoughout the downtown streets and alleyways. Heritage Square, built on the central block of downtown Flagstaff, created a community living room with its history walk, flagpole base made up of the layers of the Grand Canyon benches depicting the varied economies of Flagstaff and an open-air amphitheater. Heritage Square offers the perfect venue to showcase local arts and entertainment, free to the Public. The 11,000 square foot amphitheater area and plaza are designed to entertain as many as 1,200 people.

Heritage Square, located along Aspen Street between the AG Edwards Building and Babbitt's Backcountry Outfitters in downtown Flagstaff, was the vision of five people: Dick and Jean Wilson, Jim Babbitt, Steve Vanlandingham and Francis McAllister.

The five Square proponents worked to convince the City of Flagstaff to make the Square a reality. Previously, the space held a dirt parking lot. "We wanted to turn it into something open to everybody - to turn it into a town meeting place rather than commercial buildings," says Trust member Dick Wilson. "Other towns have it and Flagstaff needed a place like this."

The two-year planning and development process involved intense meetings between the interested parties, designers, architects and the Heritage Square Trust. Planners looked at a variety of plans and other squares, including Pioneer Square in Portland, before deciding on the current design of Heritage Square.

"The layout evolved from many different plans," Wilson says. "We're very pleased with it. It's exactly what we hoped it would be.

"We just didn't want to see it lost," he continues. "It was the last open space in downtown." Each element of the design and layout of the Square was carefully planned to reflect the heritage of the area, says Wilson.

The 18,500-square-foot space features an outdoor amphitheater named the Empress Amphitheater for the old Empress Theater that used to stand on the site.

The Square also features a winding brick path detailing the history, biology, geology and anthropology of Flagstaff on a series of plaques, and a red brick railroad track design signifying the importance of the railroad to Flagstaff. Even the design of each bench in the Square represents a significant part of Flagstaff - the railroad, Lowell Observatory, the ranching and lumber industries and the Native American heritage.

The base of the flag pole contains actual rocks from the Grand Canyon placed carefully to reflect the geologic strata of the Canyon, with Vishnu schist on the bottom and Kaibab limestone on the top. One water fountain seems to come directly out of a rock formation. It signifies Old Town Spring, around which the settlement of Flagstaff grew. Toward the back of the Square is a picnic area under a beamed roof meant to provide a place of reflection away from the activity of the Square.

Since the Square was built Heritage Square Trust has hosted over one thousand events on the Square attracting more than 250,000 attendees. In 2011 Heritage Square Trust was awarded the Organization of the Year by the Viola Awards.

Even though the Square is completed, the Trust still needs help in keeping the Square a vibrant and attractive place. One way to help is by buying an engraved brick in your name, a child's name, or the name of a friend or family member. These bricks are placed into the Square, forming the base on which Flagstaff enjoys its outdoor "living room." Proceeds from brick sales go toward continuing construction, landscaping and upkeep of the Square, as well as sponsoring the continuation of entertainment and events on the Square.