Herb Drinkwater and the Shopping Center on the Corner

Posted By Les Conklin on Feb 14, 2017

Prologue

The late Herb Drinkwater wrote an excellent article about change and north Scottsdale. His wise words are featured below, but first an introduction for our newer readers, who might not have been introduced to Drinkwater or our area.

My wife, Judy, our two sons, and I, moved to our current home in 1983. Since 1983, we’ve seen many changes. The area, which was under the jurisdiction of Maricopa County, was annexed into Scottsdale; North Scottsdale Road evolved from a two lanes with numerous dips to four lanes with traffic lights; new neighborhoods and neighbors showed up, and our house, which has not moved an inch since 1983, has had six different postal addresses as new jurisdictions and post offices have made their appearance.  

Don Pablo stands on his property on the northeast corner of Pinnacle Peak Road and Scottsdale Road. In the background, vacant desert and Lone Mountain.

The northeast corner of Pinnacle Peak Road and North Scottsdale Road, which  is not far from our home has changed, too. Similar changes have occurred at other intersections in north Scottsdale. Fortunately,  the corner near our home has been  the subject of two very insightful articles.  

In the June 1989 issue of A Peek at the Peak (The Peak), founding editor Liz Stapleton, now Liz Stapleton-Ogden, wrote an article entitled “Reminiscing: The Character on the Corner.”  The character was Don Voelker, a.k.a. Don Pablo, and the “corner” is near our home, the northeast corner of Pinnacle Peak Road and North Scottsdale Road.  Take a minute to read the article.

                                                             

Herb Drinkwater, Mayor, City of Scottsdale, 1996

The second article about the corner, which appears below,  was written by Herb Drinkwater, then Scottsdale’s mayor, Drinkwater died in 1997 and since many Peak readers probably know little about him, here are excerpts from an obituary that appeared in the New York Times.

 “Herb Drinkwater, who as Mayor for four terms oversaw Scottsdale’s transformation from a sleepy village to a resort destination …  helped this Phoenix suburb retain its character as its population grew.

“Mr. Drinkwater was Mayor of Scottsdale from 1980 to 1996. In that time, the suburb’s population more than doubled, to more than 179,000 people, and Mr. Drinkwater helped lure the Princess Resort, among others, and the Mayo Clinic, which opened a medical center here.

He was known for his efforts to preserve Scottsdale’s natural beauty, including pushing for a preserve near the McDowell Mountains and a park system along Indian Bend Wash, a stream bed that runs through much of the city. He also lobbied for less development in the city’s growing northern section.”

 

The Mayor’s Column

By Mayor Herb Drinwater

Shopping Center Entrance, Pinnacle Peak Road.

From A Peek at the Peak, June 1991

Last month as I participated in the grand opening of The Pinnacle of Scottsdale shopping center at Scottsdale and Pinnacle Peak Roads, I was overcome with a sense of nostalgia.

I found myself thinking back to the days when my father would take me camping and hiking in the untouched desert hills of Pinnacle Peak. And I remembered the times I took my own children horseback riding in the area. In those days, this site was wide open desert, except for Don Pablo’s “House of Relics.”

From the early ’50s until 1983, Don Pablo’s shop occupied a unique position. Run by a rather eccentric man with a love for unusual collectibles, it was, for many years, the sole business in the area. Housed in a wooden shed with a dirt floor was a display of antiques that included a variety of guns and bicycles, among other things. Don Pablo’s preferred method of procuring new items for his store seemed to be trading. Thus, the House of Relics was often referred to as the “trading post.”

Pinnacle of Scottsdale Shopping Center

To many longtime Scottsdale residents like myself, the ramshackle building was a landmark – a stopping off place on the way to the Rio Verde. It holds a special place in the history of Scottsdale and Pinnacle Peak.

Coming back to the present, I realized that the city has come to the country. Where there once stood a “trading post” now stands a beautifully designed shopping center, complete with sculptures and modern conveniences. The people who live in the Pinnacle Peak area no longer have to drive nine miles into town to get groceries, pick up their dry cleaning, or visit a pharmacy. Rather, they have all the benefits of city life right at their fingertips. It was a thought that made me happy and sad at the same time. It reminded me of watching my children grow up – a touch of sadness at the passing of childhood mixed with pride in their new-found independence.

The highest building in the Pinnacle of Scottsdale shopping center is located on the eastern edge of the property, away from Scottsdale Road, which is to the west.

I realized that this new center was not responsible for the changes to the area or for my feelings of nostalgia. No, there have been many small changes that preceded the opening of this center, many other “grand openings.” And with all the changes, Pinnacle Peak is essentially the wide-open spaces. But it’s also become a place for fine dining, spectacular golf courses, and seasonal visitors – a place for people.

Now that I’ve reminisced, I’d like to say that Pinnacle Peak remains one of the prizes of Arizona. It behooves all of us to protect the special way of life of the people who live here. But this can only be accomplished through active involvement in homeowners’ associations and city boards and commissions. In short, by residents making their views known.

It’s not easy to adapt to the ever-changing world around us. Just when we get comfortable with the way things are, they change. But we can’t insulate ourselves from the world. It’s like Don Pablo and his trading post.” He probably thought Pinnacle Peak would forever remain as he knew it. But change came and will continue to come. Our responsibility is to manage the inevitable changes as best we can.

Epilogue

The corner continues to change. The shopping center is being expanded northward on Scottsdale Road. It has a more urban look than the original shopping center, primarily because the buildings appear to be more densely spaced and the tallest building is adjacent to Scottsdale Road, not on the eastern part of the parcel, as is the case with the original center.  The land on the opposite side of Scottsdale Road is in Phoenix and includes commercial zoning.

As people continue to move to Scottsdale, the city will continue to come the country.  As growth pushes northward on Scottsdale Road, the next major intersection after Pinnacle Peak Road is at Happy Valley Road, the southern entrance to Scottsdale’s Scenic Drive. We will see. As Drinkwater wrote, Our responsibility is to manage the inevitable changes as best we can.”

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