Gene C. Reid Park is a 131-acre urban park in central Tucson, Arizona that includes a 9,500-seat baseball stadium, an outdoor performance center, two man-made lakes, public pools, and a 24-acre zoo along with playgrounds, gardens and picnic areas. The park occupies the western third of a 480-acre parks and recreation complex established in 1925 as Randolph Park which additionally includes two 18-hole golf courses, a tennis and racquetball facility, and an indoor recreation center. A 2-mile loop of paved multi-use trails follows the edge of the park, connecting with another 2.5 miles around the Randolph golf and recreation centers.HistoryIn 1925 Willis Barnum and his wife paid $14,896 for a 480-acre parcel of land to create a park in what is now central Tucson, deeding it to the city on a long-term purchase agreement. The L-shaped park, which is one mile in width and length with a half-mile-square neighborhood in its northwest corner, was named for prominent railroad executive and Tucson citizen Epes Randolph, who died in 1921.In 1978 the western third of Randolph Park was renamed for the City of Tucson’s first parks director, Gene C. Reid, upon his retirement. In over thirty years as director Reid expanded Tucson's park system from 8 to 84 parks and made significant additions to Randolf. Reid oversaw the addition of the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, the zoo, the expansion and renovation of Randolf Golf Course, and the excavation of two lakes which doubled as irrigation reservoirs. The zoo and lakes also bear Reid's name. The recreation center and golf complex remain named after Randolph.
