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Twelve Tucson schoolyards will soon be open after hours for neighborhood users as the city and the school district signed off on the plan Tuesday.

While the City Council didn't vote, all council members present spoke glowingly of the plan. Councilwoman Shirley Scott was absent.

The agreement will be on next week's council consent agenda, a list of routine items approved with no discussion. The Tucson Unified School District approved the agreement on its consent agenda Tuesday.

The agreement will open the schoolyards after school hours, on weekends and during the summer. Two schools are located in each of the city's six wards.

Eight of the schools already have agreements with the city for neighborhood residents to use school grounds, but the number of facilities available to them will increase. Four neighborhoods will get access to schoolyards for the first time. At the schools where agreements are already in place, citizens will have access to a wider area, particularly ball fields and basketball courts.

During the summer, city taxpayers will be responsible for maintenance, lawn mowing, trash removal, graffiti abatement, irrigation and playground repairs. The district would continue to pay for all costs during the school year.

The total cost to city taxpayers for the one-year pilot program is $38,000. After a year, the two sides will reconsider if they want to add more schools to the list, keep the program at the same number or end the program.

Councilwoman Regina Romero said the idea is a good one and should be expanded eventually to other school districts inside the city, including Sunnyside Unified School District and Amphitheater Public Schools.

Everything prohibited on school grounds would continue to be prohibited after hours, meaning no dogs or guns will be allowed in the schoolyard parks, said Councilwoman Nina Trasoff.

The council also approved an amendment to the lease of the Historic Train Depot on North Toole Avenue with Hotel Congress owner Richard Oseran and his partner.

The lease will allow Oseran to build his market — which would be the only one Downtown — in the lobby of the historic depot. The benches that are there will be moved to another section of the building. The lease will also allow Oseran to build a large pizza oven on the plaza in the back side of the train depot, facing the railroad tracks.

The market and restaurant will have outdoor seating in front of the depot toward Toole Avenue, on the back plaza facing the railroad tracks and in the depot lobby. The full lease gives Oseran more than $250,000 in free rent.