Chandler Council OKs $4M for Tumbleweed Ranch improvements
Courtesy of City of Chandler
This rendering shows how a 200-seat amphitheater is meant to look at Tumbleweed Ranch. The Chandler City Council approved more than $4 million in contracts for two phases of improvements to the agricultural history ranch on Aug. 13.
Voters approved $475 million in municipal bonds for the city of Chandler in November 2025 — including $158 million for parks and recreation projects.
A portion of such parks bonds is being used for the first two phases of a project the Chandler City Council unanimously approved at its Aug. 13 meeting.
Council approved three contracts for improvements to the Tumbleweed Ranch historical education area of Tumbleweed Park.
KLASS Services landed the main $3.68 million construction contract; Weddle Gilmore Architects PLLC will handle "post-design services," according to a staff report, for $145,000; and Dibble CM LLC will manage the construction project for $440,000.
Weddle Gilmore also handled a 2024 master plan creation for Tumbleweed Ranch, Chandler Museum Director Jody Cargo told Council during an Aug. 10 study session.
“A main goal is to provide more educational and recreational spaces at the ranch,” Cargo said.
The museum operates the ranch, which is on the 19 southeast acres of Tumbleweed Park. Meant to celebrate the area’s agriculture heritage, the buildings and other features are tied most closely to the 1910s and 1920s, but other items — especially in equipment on display — are from other eras.
The ranch is a regular destination for educational school field trips and is part of FFA and special events, such as the annual Chandler Chuck Wagon Cook‑off.
On-site features include the McCroskey House, Edwards House, the Red Shed Theater, an early‑1900s grocery store, demonstration fields and antique agricultural equipment.
The acreage was preserved in 1999 by city leadership in order to tell the story of the East Valley’s rich agricultural history, the report states.
The ranch features four historic structures, a small stage and an amphitheater, the report states, and the remodel will address those elements.
“It will celebrate and honor this history of innovation and the people who have contributed to it,” Cargo said.
The first phase includes demolition, the report states, along with general site improvements, such as grading, irrigation improvements, retention basins, tree salvage, new tree planting, fencing, a fire access road, and relocation of and site improvements to the Red Shed Theater.
The second phase of the improvements are to the historic farmhouses, surrounding landscape and hardscape improvements, service yard improvements, retention basins, pedestrian paths, irrigation improvements, and newly planted tees, it states.
KLASS Services has 550 days to finish the two phases.
Cargo seemed especially enthused about the 200-seat Red Shed Theater and its covered concrete bench seating.
“This amphitheater will be used not only for special events, but also for our regular field-trip program,” Cargo said. “And it will have an audio system that can incorporate music into events.”
Council member Matt Orlando praised the project.
“I like the shade structures and the pathways,” Orlando said. “And, of course, the educational elements.”
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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