Arizona Heritage Center honors Historymakers after museum flooding
Independent Newsmedia/Tempe, by Madeline Bates, 4/16/2026
On top of a hill above Papago Park is the Arizona Heritage Center museum in Tempe. A 30-yr-old brick façade with a desert garden courtyard hosts hundreds of people and events year-round. In August 2025, disaster struck.
Several devastating monsoons and storms brought at least 2 feet of water to the museum’s Steele Auditorium, causing the area to flood significantly for months and leaving the administration to make difficult decisions on how to proceed.
“Oddly enough, the day of the flooding was the day we were doing our emergency management tour so I thought I was getting my leg pulled,” said David Breekner, executive director of the Arizona Historical Society.
“It was devastating though, and then for two months we would pump it out day by day and then the water would return,” he said.
Breekner explained that the property was built before Papago Park and the additional landscaping and construction could have resulted in creating a floodplain for the area of the property where the auditorium is located.
Because of the flooding, the AHS had to hold its Historymakers Gala at the Scott Hotel and Resort instead.
On April 15, the nine who were chosen for the award were finally honored with an exhibition of their own.
The award recipients cut the ribbon to symbolize the display of the Historymakers and the renovations to the property that are yet to be completed.
The Heritage Center will close in May for massive remodels, but the Historical Society will remain strong, Breeckner said as the group plans to still do offsite events, visit schools and continue to educate Arizonans on the history of the state.
The foundation is also launching a $3 million capital campaign to raise funds for the project with hopes of raising as much money as possible to create a more innovative and functional space for years to come.
“Just like our technology has changed in 30 years, I think the ways that we can tell those stories and the tools we can use to engage with it have evolved too so let’s make it more accessible to the next generation,” Breekner said.
To learn more/ donate to museum visit Donations | Arizona Historical Society.
