‘A little portal into the past’: Tumbleweed Ranch closing for improvements

CHANDLER, AZ — Tumbleweed Ranch, a 19-acre site in the southeast corner of Tumbleweed Park, celebrates Chandler’s farming and ranching history and it will soon be getting some improvements.

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“It’s a little portal into the past,” Jody Crago said.

Multiple historic structures are on the property, including two homes, a stage and amphitheater, and other agricultural equipment.

“It’s a place where we can focus on what it was like 100 years ago, or shorter, but what that agricultural roots really meant,” Crago said.

By October, the ranch will be closed for 555 days for improvements. The first two phases of a bigger project.

Phase one will focus on the Red Shed Theater, where field trips, educational programming, and musical performances happen. The project will move the theater and create new accessible seating for up to 200 people.

“Once we get the Red Shed theater relocated there will be a similar stage out front with a shade structure off the front of it and then on either side there is going to be large farm equipment,” Crago said.

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Phase two includes updates to the area around the farmhouses, including ADA access for the first time.

“We will also have a large grape arbor that will provide some shade and some additional places for our farm equipment to be,” Crago said.

As Chandler continues to develop, these improvements keep the city’s history alive.

“As the people continue to develop, they are part of that story as well, so it really allows people to connect to it, but still see that we started as this farm community with an idea,” Crago said.

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