Preserving Basque Heritage in Arizona

Hopefully Patty Lutrell will be able to find one of those rich Basques that she needs in order to preserve this piece of Basque history.

Check this note appeared at Yuma Sun:

Community works to preserve Basque court

Few of their handball arenas remain in the West

April 19, 2008 - 10:55PM

FLAGSTAFF - On a typical Fourth of July at Jesus Garcia's boarding house, young Basque men would compete in fierce handball tournaments at a nearby court, dance to traditional music and munch on Spanish-style omelets.

Olga Esparza, Garcia's niece, often was in the house, washing dishes to help her uncle keep up with the flood of guests.

"I have so many memories, not just for me but for other people," said Esparza, who was born in Phoenix but now lives in Carson, Calif. "Now there aren't many Basques left in Flagstaff or in Arizona."

Today the boarding house, built in 1926, is abandoned and falling apart. The remains of the Basque handball court, one of 14 still standing in the western United States, are three walls of crumbling sandstone rising about 40 feet. Both are reminders of Basques who settled in Flagstaff and elsewhere around the West, working primarily as sheep herders.

Community leaders and the properties' owners agree the site is worth preserving. But they've yet to determine how to move forward, mostly because the question comes down to money.

Flagstaff resident Patty Lutrell, who bought the property with the ball court about four years ago, said she lacks the $1 million needed to rehabilitate and preserve it and hopes to sell to someone who can.

"Now it's up to somebody with money who can see the vision in it," Lutrell said. "We're basically looking for a rich Basque."

The boarding house is on property owned by a Phoenix-based partnership that's looking to sell. Mike Pullen, one of the partners, said he tried to create a restaurant in which each of the eight rooms had a theme but ran into too many zoning roadblocks.

Pullen said he's working with Lutrell to find someone who will purchase and preserve both properties. "I think if someone had the right drive to do it, it'll be quite a successful thing for them."

Handball, called pelota in Spanish, is a passion among Basques, members of an ethnic group native to northcentral Spain and southwestern France.

A handball court, surrounded by either three or four walls, often is a centerpiece of Basque communities. Players use bare hands or paddles to hit a ball off the walls.

James Garrison, Arizona's historic preservation officer, said he'd support any effort to preserve the handball court. He said his office stands ready to help Lutrell find the money needed to preserve it.

"It's an endangered species," Garrison said. "Once it's gone, that's it."

Karl Eberhard, Flagstaff's historic preservation officer, said the two properties need a lot of restoration work. The court is suffering from weather deterioration, and the boarding house has asbestos, he said.

Eberhard, who is also an architect, came up with a plan to turn the remains of the handball court into a 4,000-square-foot restaurant enclosed in glass and steel. The boarding house would be converted into an art gallery or office space.

He said the properties are in danger even though those in the community generally support saving them. The city doesn't have the legal authority to prevent someone from demolishing the structures.

"If the current property owner wasn't as interested in preservation as they are, another property owner could tear it down and build something more easily and less expensively," Eberhard said, crediting owners of both properties for their efforts.

John Bieter, acting director of the Basque Studies Center at Boise State University in Idaho, said it's important to preserve the boarding house because of its historical importance. In Boise, a similar structure was transformed into a museum.

"It's a window into an immigrant group in the American West that has played a significant role," he said.

The first Basques came to the West as part of the 19th-century gold rush. Those who failed to strike it rich often went into sheep herding, part of the Basques' traditional pastoral lifestyle. During the winters, the herders, typically young single men, often stayed at boarding houses.

"They're really a home away from home because these herders … didn't have a home," Bieter said.

The boarding houses slowly vanished in the 20th century as the sheep industry died off and many Basques returned to Spain to take advantage of the improving economy, Bieter said.

Esparza said she'd hate to see Flagstaff lose the boarding house and handball court, which her uncle sold in 1945.

"He always took such good care of that house, but if he was to see it now, he'd roll over in his grave," Esparza said.

I know about one of those rich Basques who built an entire football field for an university, and well, nobody plays that sport in Euskal Herria, his name is John Arrillaga and he donated 100 million dollars to the Stanford University. And then there is María Aramburuzabala, the richest woman in Latin America, of Basque heritage, married to the US ambassador to Mexico.

I wish I was a rich Basque myself Patty, unfortunately, I'm not.

By the way, the first Basques came to Arizona (and adjacent states) almost 300 years ago, it was a Basque (Juan Bautista de Anza) who founded San Francisco in 1776. As a matter of fact, Arizona is a Basque name, from Haritz = oak and Ona = good, meaning, Good Oak.

.... ... .