Excitement Builds
on Church Street
By
John Lindt
Visalia - Visalia architect Michael Kreps subscribes to the idea shared with fellow downtown Visalia merchants to create a “wow factor” in the downtown area that would help bring more business in for everybody.
Kreps – who is president of the group this year – says about $400,000 has been set aside from its affiliate Property Based Improvement District (PBID) that will be steered toward a full makeover for quiet little Church Street that originates at the convention center connecting the one block to Main.
With the city planning a new visitor center to be built soon at the entrance to Church, we thought it was time to dust off plans that create a landscaped pedestrian way along Church that could lure more visitors to Downtown, Kreps said. The group is using some ideas developed many years ago by landscape architects Dan Veyna and Kay Hutmacker.
Kreps says the Downtown Visalians
and Alliance group met last week and voted to move forward on the Church
Street project that would include extensive landscaping. In addition,
he is hopeful there will be some funds to add improvements to the Garden
Street Plaza – perhaps with some city funding to provide more shade
in the plaza. Also, the alley linking Church and Garden could get some
treatment.
“In a nutshell, we're looking to jazz up Downtown Visalia”
Focus on Public Spaces
All of this would be done to create an inviting area that has a number of functions. First would be to draw tourists and conventioneers into the downtown. The second goal is to create linked areas giving the feel of exciting public space where events occur. And the third goal is to work towards a civic park and amphitheatre centrally located where people come to see concerts or eat lunch and read a book in the sunshine.]
PBID Chairman William Martin told the Capital Improvement Task Force, “We need a WOW project, something we and the community can get excited about.” The term WOW was adopted from the consulting firm PUMA which led the group through its strategic planning two years ago. The board was told it is important to not just do things but to give members and the community something exciting to support.
The group met and reviewed 17 projects before deciding to recommend the Church Street and Garden Plaza improvements to the board which has a little over $400,000 left in its budget. The group plans on partnering with private interests, the Parks and Recreation Foundation and the city of Visalia, plus other important stakeholders.
PBID board members received positive news on the possible cost when Council Member Greg Collins, who attends the meetings, said Exeter had just completed an eight-block reconstruction of its downtown for around $400,000.
PBID III ends June 30, 2010 and the group has just started the renewal phase where property owners will be asked to decide if they would like to continue the many programs and services provided with the assessment dollars. Programs include graffiti removal, landscaping, maintenance, business development, capital improvements and increasing parking.
Other landscaping improvements are pending, including Caltrans-funded planter work at all four corners of Court and Main, as well as at Conyer and Main. Landscaping is also in the works along Center Street with bulb-outs planned on the street where diagonal parking is allowed.
“We've got some exciting things
happening downtown despite the economy,” says Kreps, including the
purchase of the 400 Block of East Main by the Mangano brothers, the grand
opening of the hospital tower “ with a significant number of new
jobs right here” and another VAM music festival expected in October.
Kreps himself is about to expand his office, moving to the former Buzz's
Fly Shop location on Court Street – doubling his office space. Buzz
moved all its operations to Bakersfield.
As for the plan to upgrade Church Street – the downtown group plans to issue an RFP to carry out the work.
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