Cook Plaza Contributors Cook Plaza Contributors

Cook Plaza Funding Provided By:

City of Casa Grande 1% for the Arts
Local Transportation Assistance Funds
Cook Family Donation

Other Contributors
Glenn Miller
Mia Quick
Volunteers from City’s Graffiti Abatement Program
Lou Halpern, Owner La Posada Trailer Park
Joshua Webb, Life Scout—5th Rank Troop #947
Eagle Scout Leaders

City Council
Robert Jackson, Mayor
Mary Kortsen, Mayor Pro Tempore
Dick Powell
Stephen Q. Miller
Ralph Varela
Karl Montoya
Matt Herman

Arts & Humanities Commission
Alice J. Ewan, Chairman
Jason D. Taylor, Vice Chairman
Victor Hammond
Paul Lipscomb
Susan Wortman
Claudell Young
Christine Deaton

Staff
Jim Thompson, City Manager
Gloria Leija, City Clerk
Remy Miller, Deputy City Clerk
Mary Johnson, Community Services Director
Rod Wood, Parks Superintendent

The Singing of the Concrete - Key to the City by Gloria Smith The Singing of the Concrete - Key to the City by Gloria Smith

We stood for years and cried out for attention
Make us a beauty to behold for all who enter our gates
The youth saw the opportunity, the concrete cylinders and rectangles
Smacked them in the face every day and in their unstructured way they played their part
Attention grew and many times a washing away of the youths’ work, said to the town father’s
We must do something here; to prevent this, to enhance this, to make it come alive.

 When the six C’s for Casa Grande was explained to Mr. Tyler the Artist, he immediately went to work
Covered with Rock and Stone and adorned with his sculptures
Our concrete sentinels make all Casa Grande Proud
They tell our visitors this is a town that cares, they love their children, their history, art,
And this is a place we would like to stay for more than a moment
The sun dances daily on the metal work
A shining example
Combining true creative talent and natural products
For youth to respect, to learn, to acquire an appreciation, not only for art
But for the traditions of their town, its history, their heritage,
Come sing with our concrete
And rejoice in this dedication to the Cook’s key to the city 
(un-locking the pathway for future generations)
This Cook Plaza is helping to make this a most memorable drive into our
City of Casa Grande
 

Cook Plaza Cook Plaza


About the Cook Family About the Cook Family

Pauline and John Cook

Pauline and John Cook both graduated from Cropsey High School. John attended Bradley University in
Peoria, Illinois; Pauline graduated from Bloomington Normal College majoring in business.  They married in 1935 and had one son, Norman, in 1940.

John ran the Cook Family Plumbing, Heating and
Electrical Company in Cropsey. In 1950, when John’s health demanded a warmer climate, they visited friends in Mesa, Arizona, and liked what they saw. They made a quick trip home, sold the business, said goodbye to family and friends, and made the move west.

For two years they lived in Mesa, then moved to Casa Grande in 1952. They lived for a while in the La Posada Trailer Court.  John worked for Bill Keith at the Valley Pump Company as a machinist, for Dusty Owen at Dusty’s Welding Shop, and at the Byron-Jackson Pump Company until his retirement in 1973. John was a natural inventor. He had a reputation for being able to come up with a solution for just about any problem that might arise. He played a big role in installing and maintaining the pumps that provided the irrigation water to the farms of the Casa Grande Valley—certainly important to the growth of Casa Grande.

Pauline worked as a bookkeeper at Arizona Machinery Company for two years until she was hired by the City of Casa Grande.  She was appointed to the position of City Clerk where she remained until her retirement (1957-69). She was a member of the Zonta Club International.

For over fifty years, John and Pauline lived and contributed, in their individual ways, to the growth and
development of the city of Casa Grande.


Cook Family Cook Family