During the 1990s, Center staff worked with the Tucson Presidio Trust, the University of Arizona, and the City of Tucson to search for buried remnants of the Presidio Wall beneath the concrete and asphalt of downtown Tucson. Ground-penetrating radar yielded images that stimulated multiple rounds of small-scale excavations funded by the City of Tucson, Pima County, and grants from the Arizona Humanities Council. The excavations established that preservation was far greater than had been expected.
During the Rio Nuevo Project, also funded by the City of Tucson, the northeast corner of the Presidio was exposed. It was shown to overlie both a thousand-year-old pithouse village and an even earlier village from about 2,000 years ago.
Rio Nuevo also funded a reconstruction of the northeast corner of the Presidio. This park is open daily and is free. On many weekends, volunteers from the Tucson Presidio Trust provide living history demonstrations.