La Expedición de Anza, 1775 is a public outdoor experience, depicting the lives of a group of 240 people who passed through Tucson in 1775, on their way to California, where they established the City of San Francisco.
La Expedición de Anza, 1775 is a unique project that aims to create an inclusive, place-based park, and is already creating engagement opportunities for marginalized members of the Tucson community, while improving existing site infrastructure.
Located adjacent to the Arizona State Schools for Deaf and Blind in Tucson, Arizona, the park will become an outdoor classroom for ASDB students & staff and an educational resource to the community of Tucson.
The physical development of the park is the product of careful design.
The park is approximately a 1/4 mile long, complete with with artworks, interactive displays, adaptive pathways, a cable guide for the blind, tactile features, and interactive audible stories.
Landscaping includes new plants, mostly native to the region, including ones that encourage touch and smell. Most areas will have shade trees well adapted to the desert climate. All displays are multilingual (English, Spanish, Braille, and American Sign Language).
The projected cost for construction of La Expedición de Anza is approximately
$250,000. Roughly half of this total has been generously provided in materials and services from Pima County. In-kind donations and grants have also been generously provided by the National Park Service – Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, the National Park Service; The National Park Foundation, Anza Society International; the Union Pacific Foundation, and individual donors like you.
Let’s build something together.
We still need an additional $25,000 to complete the project as designed, most particularly for the outdoor classroom for students from the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind, and other visiting school groups. Will you lend a hand?
Donations are managed by the Anza Society International (ASI), a tax exempt,
501(c)(3) non-profit corporation incorporated under laws of the State of Arizona.
100 percent of all donations go directly to the completion of La Expedición de Anza.
ASI is an all volunteer organization.
Our Process
Community Engagement
Throughout the entire park development process, multiple diverse stakeholders have been engaged and included. To see a full list of the stakeholders that have been engaged and their roles, please visit our About Us page.
Place-Based Learning
The intention of the park is to connect community to the diverse stories and unique heritage of the United States borderlands. Place-based education has been a foundational element in the resources included throughout the cultural history park.
Universal Design
Universal design concepts have been integral in the development of La Expedición de Anza, 1775 park. All design elements that have been incorporated into the park are accessible to people with hearing or vision loss and those with mobility challenges.
Gallery of Inclusive Universal Design Elements
Early Design Elements 
Braille cable 
Braille cable through entrance arch 
Clover leaf-shaped sensory garden bed 
Bike path re-routed around plaza 
Tactile artwork 
Paths with indicators of turn-offs for cane-users 
Specimen garden and Braille Cable across entry plaza 
Braille cable 
La Expedición de Anza, 1775 