Vibrant green and blue minerals line the hallway display cases. Chrysocolla, Azurite, Quartz, Tourmaline. Adjacent rooms display Slavic culture, displaying well-known names of families who were key to the history of the region. Exhibits such as traditional dresses and clothing, photographs, stories, and the “Family Board” are unique to the Brion Plaza Cultural Center & Museum on Miami’s west side. And if you haven’t explored this massive building recently, you’re missing out on entire rooms devoted to minerals and geology, ranching, mining, Native American culture, Mexican heritage, and McCusick’s tiles and pottery. It will also be.

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the construction of this enormous building. Bullion Plaza opened in his 1924, reflecting the racism prevalent in many communities and the public school system in Arizona at the time, serving Mexican-American and Apache children for decades. served as a grammar school for The local school system was desegregated and from 1950 he began to integrate British students into Bullion Plaza during the 1951 school year. Forty years later, the school had fallen into disrepair and closed, making it unsuitable for use as a public school. In 1997, the City of Miami purchased Bullion Plaza from the school district. Volunteers have begun transforming the old school into the Brion Plaza Cultural Center & Museum. The museum was added to his National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and the first exhibition opened that same year. Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold, Freeport Foundation, Gila County Oversight Board, Grove Miami Union Fund, Grove Miami Chamber of Commerce, Gila County Industrial Development Authority, Slavic Association of America, just to name a few. , Capstone, Resolution Copper, Arizona Historical Society, Valley of the Sun United Way, BHP, Rum Specialist, Kino Floors, Mike Pastor, Roberto Leverez, Keith Dingdinger , Peggy Snow, Slavic Commission and others. Read more and preview the collection at bullionplazamuseum.org. Also, like and follow us on facebook.com/BullionPlazaCulturalCenterMuseum for updates on guest speaker event dates, new exhibits and special events.

Donations continue to be welcomed, and since Bullion Plaza is a nonprofit, nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, donations are tax deductible. There is definitely one thing he needs more urgently than money this summer, Volunteers! There is a friendly usher to help open the museum and gift shop Wednesday through Saturday from 11am to 2pm. Are you a former student there or are you a resident who can spare a few hours each week with others who share the same time? Is there love for the traditions of our community? For more information about volunteering at Bullion Plaza, please email us. [email protected] Or call Executive Director Tom Foster at (602) 432-7474.