Library Architect Told Dirt Must Move in October

Tulare - When Michael Stowell says he is sure he “felt some weight come off the old shoulders” when the City Council approved a bond sale that included money for a new library, few who have watched him work over the past five years to get funding for the project would doubt that.

Stowell, the city's library director, prepared and filed hundreds of pages of documents with the state in an attempt to get Library Bond Act money in 2003 and 2004. Both times the applications failed despite high scores.

Then he and other city officials watched in dismay as California voters—including a majority of those in Tulare—rejected a $600 million library bond that would have guaranteed funding for a new library here.

But that's all history.

The City Council approved on Dec. 18 the sale of up to $39 million in bonds, which are expected to be sold in early January. An estimated $11.1 million of the total will be used to construct a 26,500-square-foot library on the southwest corner of M Street and Cross Avenue.

The city wants to move full speed ahead with the project. “The order to the architect is the dirt is moving in October,” Pyle said. “We've drawn a line in the sand.” The city plans to open the library in spring 2010.

“We're pretty confident with that date,” Stowell said.

Stowell is working with architect Paul Halajian from the Taylor-Teter Partnership to make changes in the design drawn three years ago.

'Civic Presence'

“The corner of Cross and M will have a completely different look [from the original drawing],” Stowell said. “I think it's going to have more of what the architect calls 'a civic presence.'”

The entrance to the library will become more prominent. “It was kind of lost before,” Stowell said. “It wasn't really obvious.”

Most of the interior of the library will be built according to the original plan and include a children's area that is about four times larger than the one in the existing library.

“We're going to have a room that kids won't want to leave,” Stowell said.

One change in the interior will be the meeting room, which also will serve as the City Council's chambers. The room will now include a fixed dais, which was omitted previously because the state would not pay for Council Chambers, Stowell said.

The technology in the meeting room will be such that council meetings eventually can be streamed over the internet and people will be able to watch them on their home computers.

The new library will also feature a coffee shop.

“We're really designing that so it's an attractive space for a vendor to lease it from us,” Stowell said. “The city doesn't want to be in the coffee business. I don't want my people making lattes. It's going to be set up so if they want to operate from 6 a.m. to midnight, they can do it. It's going to be totally independent of our operations.”

Construction Management

Instead of the typical design/bid process, the City Council has agreed to use what is called a construction management—at risk method to build the library.

The city will select a construction management firm that would then act on the city's behalf to get subcontractors for the project, said Stowell, who told the council Visalia Unified School District used this method to build its newest high school.

“This delivery method will allow the city of Tulare to build the new library in the most cost-effective manner possible,” Stowell said.

The Tulare Library Foundation, which has pledged to raise money for the project, will likely meet this month to develop a fund-raising strategy and have a kick-off event in the spring, Stowell said.

Mayor Craig Vejvoda thinks the library project will be a great addition to Tulare.

“As I look at that project, in my own personal point of view, it's not a library,” Vejvoda said. “It's a learning center located in the center of town.”

He also said he expects the project “will help ignite development in the whole Pine Street [downtown] corridor,” he said.

The new library will be big on technology, including computers, which is something Howard Berger, superintendent of the Tulare Joint Union High School District, thinks is good.

“That will be fantastic…I think it's going to be an opportunity for kids who don't have them [computers] at home,” Berger said. “I think that the technology and the hard cover books complement each other.”

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Sturgeon and Beck Quietly Helps Community

Tulare - The owners of Sturgeon and Beck believe in providing good customer service and have built a loyal cadre of employees, two likely reasons the automobile dealership remains in business 81 years after its founding.

A third reason, no doubt, is the company's involvement with the community, which is also why the Tulare Chamber of Commerce has named it the 2007 Large Business of the Year.

“They do a lot for the community and they're the type of business that doesn't do things for recognition,” said Lionel Pires, and the chamber's board president, who was a member of the selection committee.

“One of the things they've done over the years is support youth sports—it's been Little League, it's been softball, it's been Pop Warner—they've just been a tremendous supporter,” Pires said. 

“It's a family business that's understood the importance of our youth and the need for them to participate in different activities in our community,” said Tulare attorney Dennis Mederos, another member of the selection committee. “The committee recognized each member of that organization has a true interest in the betterment of Tulare.”

The chamber will honor Sturgeon and Beck, Lange Plumbing and Supply, the Small Business of the Year, Woman of the Year Cathy Mederos and Man of the Year Paul Daley at its annual awards banquet at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Heritage Complex at the International Agri-Center.  Ticket information: 686-1457.

'Our Home'

For Harold Beck, who owns the automobile dealership with son Bruce, nephew Donn Beck, sister-in-law Annetta, and grandsons Brent and Brandon Beck, the business is involved with the community for what he considers a very good reason.

“This is our home,” the 83-year-old Beck said. “We're part of the community and we believe in supporting youth activities, schools and everything that makes it a better place to live.”

The business sponsors a variety of youth sports, including football, baseball, soccer and girls softball, his son Bruce said.

Harold Beck was the president of the Little League program when his children were young, and grandson Brent—Bruce's son-has coached youth football for 13 years.

Bruce Beck is a past member of the Tulare Improvement Program board and is now on the chamber's board of directors. He is also an active member of the morning Kiwanis Club, serving on the barbecue committee for the club's pre-World Ag Expo dinner and participating in other activities such as bell-ringing for the Tulare Salvation Army.

Hupmobile Dealership

Ken Sturgeon and Harold Beck's father, “Ike” Beck, founded Sturgeon and Beck in 1926 as a Hupmobile dealership. Two years later, the business became a General Motors franchise and sold Oldsmobiles.  Today Buick, Pontiac and GMC model vehicles are featured.

The original dealership was where Adair & Evans's parking lot is, said Harold Beck, who was just a toddler at the time. The business later moved to another downtown site on South K Street and then in 1947 to its current location at 350 South L St.

Harold Beck began working for his father and Sturgeon in 1946, starting in the parts department and then moving into sales and later management. He and his younger brother, Don, ran the dealership together until Sturgeon died in 1992 and their sons Bruce and Donn, respectively, became partners.

Bruce and Donn Beck decided not to drop the Sturgeon name when they became part of the business, because the dealership was already well-known as Sturgeon and Beck. Donn Beck died in 1997.

Bruce and Donn Beck's sons, Brent and Brandon, respectively, just became partners in the business Jan. 1.  Brent works in service and Brandon in sales.

Sturgeon and Beck has had several employees who have worked for the business for 40 or more years before retiring. Salesman Ernie DiMatteo, for example, has worked for the company for 57 years. Now semi-retired, he is 88 years old.

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Portuguese Radio Helped Immigrants Adjust

Tulare - Dennis Borges arrived in the U.S. from the Azores at the tender age of 10 and quickly became fascinated with Portuguese language radio.

His family's first Saturday was spent at an aunt and uncle's home on a Tipton dairy.

“At 8 p.m. my uncle turned on the radio and said, 'We're going to listen to Mr. and Mrs. Joaquim Morisson,'” Borges said.

Joaquim Morisson had done all the paperwork to bring the Borges family to Tulare County and Borges recalled him announcing that evening “a dedication to Mr. and Mrs. Borges and their two sons who have just arrived from the Azores.”

Portuguese-language radio—which celebrated its 70th anniversary in Tulare and Kings counties last year- was a link that helped newly arrived immigrants make the transition from life in the Azores to their new community, he said.   “It was our only way to know what was going on within the Portuguese American community.”

Births, deaths and new arrivals were all reported, along with the local news.

“Nothing was reported in from Portugal,” he said, adding radio personalities encouraged the new immigrants to assimilate in their new homeland.

All the radio personalities he met emphasized:  “You're an American. You need to learn the language,” he said. He recalled how Adeline Mello, whose program was “Aurora de Portugal,” even taught English to Portuguese speakers.

The Beginning

Enos and Margarida Santos had the first Portuguese-language radio program, Remembrances of Portugal, which began in 1937 and, for many years, was the only voice the Portuguese-American community had, Borges said.

“Their radio program began 10 years before radio stations were established in the Azores islands…” he said.

The Santoses continued their show, which was later renamed “Program Portugal,” until April 30, 1978, according to information provided by their grandson, Marc Santos.

KCOK station owner Keith Munger presented the Santoses with a plaque then, recognizing them for having the longest continuing program on the station.

In addition to the plaque, Marc Santos also has copies of news articles from Portuguese-language newspaper from throughout the country that featured his grandparents. One from Hayward, Calif. was written in honor of the couple's 25th anniversary on the radio.

“There're even newspaper articles from Massachusetts about them,” said Santos, whose father, the late Casey Santos, also become a popular radio personality.

Other voices that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, Borges said, included: Maria Souza with “Echoes of the Azores;” Ana Calado with “Melodies of Portugal;” George Azera with “Voice of the Lusitania; Joaquim and Amelia Morisson with “Echoes of the Valley;” Tony Carvalho with “Portugal, Land of Faith;” Lucia Noia with “Sun of Portugal; Casey Santos with “Hora de Recreio;” and Pedro Miranda with “Pearls of the Azores.”

Most shows were one or two hours long and broadcast Saturday or Sunday on either KCOK in Tulare or KNGS in Hanford, Borges said.

The program hosts had their own styles, but there was one thing in common, he said.

“It was like they were talking to you…there was a common bond,” he said.

That bond was further enhanced when many of the broadcasters held celebrations commemorating the anniversary of their respective programs, Borges said.

Anniversary Celebrations

“These events were an important aspect of the Portuguese-American social calendar in Tulare, for they brought the community together,” he said.

Portuguese stage bands from Northern California were hired to perform, the TDES Hall was decorated elaborately and families dressed up for the occasion, paying only $1 per person to attend and enjoy not only the music but free coffee and sweet bread as well, he said.

“They were the only events people had, other than the Fatima or Holy Ghost festas,” he said.

Marc Santos remembers those celebrations well.

“My grandparents always had a dance the Saturday night before Easter Sunday,” Santos said. “Everybody came - all the Portuguese people.”

New voices emerged with the last big wave of immigrants from the Azores between 1960 and 1980 and many programs aired on a daily basis, he said. New arrivals to the air waves included Eduardo Paim, Paulo Silva, Aires DaSilva, Maria Fernanda Simoes and Borges himself.

The Portuguese-language radio scene saw the introduction in 1981 of a closed circuit radio station, the first of its kind in California, said Borges, who worked with Joaquim Correia Jr. to get the station going. To receive the broadcasts, listeners had to buy a special radio. Borges estimated the station sold about 2,000 of them.

In 1988, with most radio stations now rejecting foreign language broadcasting, KTPB, another closed circuit radio station, became the first 24-hour Portuguese-language radio station in California and broadcast until 2004, Borges said. Today KIGS in Hanford, formerly KNGS, broadcasts in the Portuguese language on a daily basis.

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Restaurant Offers Taste of Havana

Tulare - When Lilia Sierra, a native of Cuba, met her fiancé, she told him her dream of opening a restaurant in Tulare.

Jose Escobar, a son of a woman who owned three restaurants and a catering service when he was growing up in Ecuador, understood the calling.

“I said: 'Let's make true your dream,” Escobar said.

The result is The Cuban Sandwich Shop just off Prosperity Avenue in The Village shopping center, two doors north of Big Lots. The restaurant features Cuban sandwiches made with roasted pork, tri-tip sandwiches, hamburgers, Cuban milkshakes with real fruit pulp, juice coolers, a mambo fruit salad, a Cuban espresso and other items.

Sierra said she uses organic spices and zero-trans-fat oil in her cooking.

Cuban food differs from Mexican food and is more like Spain’s, she said, adding Cuban food does not use jalapeno chilies.

While the menu features quarter-pound hamburgers and fries—these too are prepared with Cuban seasonings.

“It's really tasty,” said Sonny Silva, who was having lunch with Adolph Garcia. “To me it's the best burger in town.” Garcia agreed and added: “The seasoned fries are awesome.” This was their second visit.

Sierra, who lived in Panama, Los Angeles and Costa Rica after leaving her native Havana, got her restaurant experience in Southern California and loves to cook.

“I sometimes mix Cuban, Costa Rican and now Ecuadorian dishes,” she said.

Sierra and Escobar met over the Internet in 2003, when he was living in San Carlos and she in Tulare. He moved to Tulare a year later and found a job with Quality Paint and Body.

His co-workers took note of the Cuban sandwiches she would make for him for lunch, so one day she made 30 for him to share and they suggested she open a restaurant, he said.

 She looked for a location for almost two years before her and her mother, Martha de la Ville, found the vacancy in The Village, Sierra said.

In addition to her mother, her 21-year-old son, David Sierra, a College of the Sequoias student, helps in the restaurant. Escobar's 24-year-old son, Giovanny Escobar, also plans to join the operation once he is out of the Navy.

Restaurant hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays.

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City to Construct New Maintenance Shop

Tulare - Construction of a more efficient city fleet maintenance shop is slated to begin Monday at the City Corporation Yard on South K Street.

The shop project will mark the first of three phases designed to improve and expand the yard.

“We felt replacing the worst building in the city yard is a good place to start,” Public Works Director Lew Nelson said.

One of the most used areas of the yard, the shop is where the city services its vehicles and public works equipment.

The City Council awarded a  $3.6 million contract for the project to R.L. Crawford Construction in December. Nelson hopes the project will be completed by summer. The Board of Public Utilities is loaning the city money for the 50-foot by 256-foot building, which will be constructed on the south side of the yard and include a two-story office, a training room and showers

In addition, the new building will include three bays for light equipment such as police cars and seven bays for garbage trucks and other larger equipment. The present structure has one bay for light equipment and three for large equipment.

“If you come out here, you see a lot of vehicles outside being worked on. That's not optimum,” said Nelson, adding the new building will allow them to work on as many as six police vehicles at one time.

The new facility is being constructed where a small ponding basin is presently located. That basin will be relocated and enlarged on the west end of the yard. Because shop building is being constructed at a new location in the yard, work will continue uninterrupted at the old facility.

The new building will also feature a new exhaust vacuum system. “It will be a safer and healthier work environment with better lighting, cooling and heating,” Nelson said.

The new building is designed as “a pull-through,” which means vehicles will be able to drive in one side and then out the other, eliminating the need for backing up, he said.

The project marks the first phase of the upgrade. The original plan, drawn up in early 2000, has been tweaked, but the city has not decided what Phase II or III will include or the timetable for the work.

The city eventually wants to expand the yard and plans to purchase land to the north side as it becomes available for future expansion.

“Eventually, we'll have a whole new yard, but that is many years away,” Nelson said.

The fleet maintenance shop maintains about 300 city vehicles, Nelson said.  Because the city has decided to lease many of its light vehicles, including some police patrol cars, there is not as much work maintaining vehicles. Also, many city vehicles that use to run on compressed natural gas are now being run on regular gasoline. However most of the rest of the city's fleet uses CNG, including many of the large vehicles.

The fleet maintenance department has six employees who work on the fleet.

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