Bennett pays homage
Senate President Ken Bennett pays respects to the late Rep. Polly Rosenbaum – the building’s namesake – and the late Sen. Marilyn Jarrett. As legislators, he says, they fought for the new archives building.

Shiny shovels hit the ground to kickoff construction of the long-awaited Polly Rosenbaum State Archives and History Building.
The freshly turned dirt — and the dust stirred up by a gust of wind — was a welcome sight for Vince Murray, president of Friends of Arizona Archives, a support group that has been lobbying for a new archives building for 10 years.
“This is incredibly important to us,” said Mr. Murray, a historian by trade. “The state archives was designed in 1937 to last 30 years. It ran out of space by 1965.”
The archives and library collections now sit in old additions to the original state Capitol building — with overflow documents stored in a warehouse. The Legislature approved final funding for the $38 million building this past session.
The building will stand on the southwest corner of Madison Street and 19th Avenue. About 200 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony on the now-empty lot. They included current and past legislators as well as state officials and others.
In a brief speech at the Sept. 20 ceremony, Senate President Ken Bennett credited the building’s namesake — Polly Rosenbaum — and Marilyn Jarrett for taking the lead in pushing for the new building. Ms. Rosenbaum, who had served 45 years in the House, was known as a staunch advocate for teaching Arizona history. She died in 2003 at the age of 104. Ms. Jarrett died after collapsing in her Senate office in March. She was 67.
“Polly and Marilyn are not here with us now, but they’re hopefully looking down on us pleased with what we’re doing with this site,” Mr. Bennett said.
Construction will take 2 years
Mr. Murray said it could take two years to complete the building.
Not only will the new archives building have more room, at 124,330 square feet, but it also will provide a clean, temperature-controlled environment for the state’s historical treasures and documents, said Melanie Sturgeon, director of the state History and Archives Division.
Counties and cities also will be looking to the new building to store their own space-challenged documents, Ms. Sturgeon said.
“They told me that, ‘As soon as you open your doors, we’re sending that to you,’” Ms. Sturgeon said.