Dozens of homeless people forced out of Santa Rita Park for cleanup [Video]

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The city of Tucson cleared out Santa Rita Park for a deep cleaning on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

That included asking homeless people to leave the park, which is located on the south side of Tucson.

“The vast majority of people that I spoke with here had no idea where they were going to go, and realistically it’s going to be alleyways in our neighborhood,” said Sid Cordova, a street outreach help for Community on Wheels.

Cordova said after speaking with dozens of the people forced out of the park Wednesday morning that many are looking for a new home. However, city officials said this move was necessary.

“Within the last month, the people having encampments inside of the park seemed to triple. We had many complaints go into Ward 5 with residents (who) were calling with concerns,” said Mari Vasquez, a multi-agency resource coordinator for …