Residents may have noticed the beautiful gray-green rock façade at the Lakeview Medical Arts Center, 13000 N. 103rd Ave., just south of Boswell Hospital; orr maybe the unique-looking stone lining the entrance to Lakeview Center, 10626 W. Thunderbird Blvd?
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I am anchor
Neighbors
Signs of the past
Treasures from trash brighten Sun City facades
Posted
By Ed Allen
Residents may have noticed the beautiful gray-green rock façade at the Lakeview Medical Arts Center, 13000 N. 103rd Ave., just south of Boswell Hospital; orr maybe the unique-looking stone lining the entrance to Lakeview Center, 10626 W. Thunderbird Blvd?
The technical name is Chrysocolla, according to the rockhounds in the Sun City club. But it also has a less official name — Britton Stone.
Wally Britton once headed construction for the Del E. Webb Development Company in Sun City in the early 1960s. He and his wife had a friend who was an engineer with Phelps Dodge in Jerome, and on one visit Mr. Britton saw this unusual rock in the tailings there. He was told it was worthless stone.
He drove a company truck to Jerome on his next visit and loaded it with the colorful blue-green rock. It would be the first of many truckloads that would be brought to Sun City for the building of the entrance to the hospital and several other buildings. It also appears on several homes in Sun City.
The stone still welcomes visitors to the Lakeview Medical Arts Center, although the blue-green sheen was recently painted over and is now black.
Editor’s Note: Mr. Allen is a local historian and former president of the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum Board of Trustees. The museun is open for guided tours; however, reservations must be made in advance. Visit delwebbsuncitiesmuseum.org.
