Visalia Holiday Inn's Huge Makeover

Visalia - Like a page out of "That 70s Show" the Visalia Holiday Inn has now lost those plastic palm trees, the chlorine smell of a swimming pool in the middle of the lobby and noisy disco lounge transforming itself with an infusion of $5 million into a class joint. It gets a straight faced "wow" from long time visitors as they enter the reborn formal looking lobby.

"We just walk around smiling a lot," admits Norma Schaefers, director of sales for the hotel. Wood wainscoting, traditional European style interiors, real flower bouquets on a grand piano next to a huge stone fireplace are just some of the amenities that greet the visitor.

"We knew we had to make an entrance statement," says general manager Javier Solis who is proud of the work - still in progress for a few more months - to reposition the 256 room hotel, the city's largest.

Open since 1976 the Visalia Holiday Inn traditionally catered to families encouraging visits with their "kids eat free" promotion. Friday and Saturday nights the lounge pulsed with R&B music drawing a sometime rowdy crowd of locals. While the hotel still welcomes casual visitors and families, their focus now is business travelers, says Solis who works for Uniwell-Lee Visalia Hotel LLC who bought the aging property in August 2000 and retained the franchise. Solis is actually employed by the management group - The Hotel Group - that operates 250 properties around the US.

The remodel work began last year adding the new east side entrance to the property and a new exterior all around. The landmark roof top has been changed and every room stripped and redesigned. Plenty of family-friendly room features include game boys for the kids and Internet access on the TV. All rooms are either King or Queen beds and there are 14 Suites on the property.

The pool is still there enclosed now in a room with skylights and also featuring a large spa. The lounge is now open and formal - called Mahogany's - it looks the part, its decorative wood paneled appearance. Corporate travelers will enjoy a new "business center" complete with computer access. There's a fitness room and children's arcade. For business groups the hotel has set up a private room "for team building" that is like a game room with pool table, a 220 sq. ft. private lounge that is available to groups.

"With the completion of the freeway we expect corporate groups with conventions in Visalia will take a new look at the Holiday Inn," says Schaefers. No longer 15 minutes from Downtown, the hotel is now about 3 minutes from Downtown," says Solis.

"I think some accounts we lost - groups that hold regular meetings, luncheons, weddings and small conventions - will take a new look at us now," says Ms. Schaefers. The hotel features some 22,000 sq. ft. of function space including a room that can handle 500 people theater style. The hotel is looking to lure back some traditional customers like state ag groups who often used the facility because of its central location. "Governor Davis visited us during the recent Farm Show," says Solis.

Now attention turns to the grounds around the hotel that will be redone over the next few months. For most of the past year the property has been tied up in corporate activity that closed a major portion of the hotel. Visitors had to check in around the back for awhile. Now that the place is nearly complete they hope you will drop by and see for yourself. The management is clearly betting that Visalia business will increase in coming years and the Holiday Inn is now back on the business visitor radar screen.

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Link May Be Swing Vote On
Packwood Creek Issue

Visalia - Downtown businessman Bob Link may very well be the swing vote in the hotly contested Packwood Creek shopping center vote. Council member Don Landers has told the Voice that the big shopping center plan is likely to be a split 3 to 2 vote "but I don't know which way it will go." The center that could begin construction in June would be on both sides of Mooney on 68 acres and in its first phase mean about 700,000 sq. ft. of new retail space - the size of about 6 Costcos put together.

But Link appears to be leaning toward approval of the project that passed the Planning Commission last week and is set for an April 24th hearing at the Convention Center at 7 p.m. "I see the plus of the project as getting the community one more option for a place to shop." The new competition "is just part of the free enterprise system," insists Link who has been a vocal advocate for a new auto mall on West 198 as well.

Link says that the "downside may be traffic" but that this will be partly alleviated by the new street being put in.

In addition Link sees the argument staff has suggested that "there is no other places in town that can handle this project" and raises the issue of not wanting to lose the project to another part of the county.

Although he sympathizes with the view that "we don't want to be another Fresno" he says he "doesn't totally buy that argument either. I've heard from the other developers" and "now I want to hear from the public." Link says he has been visited by both Mooney merchants who don't want the project and those that think it will bring more business to the strip.

Link says he favors projects like an auto mall and a shopping center to provide the sales tax dollars to pay for services in the city. "If you put restriction on development, who supplies this income?" asks the city's vice mayor. "Sales tax is the motor that makes it work."

Assistant city manager Dianne Guzman supports the proposed project and feels retail changes are coming fast to California. "I was just in Oxnard this week - a place I had not visited in two years. Heading for the Camarillo outlet mall I saw that the big regional mall that used to be at the intersection of 101 and Highway 1 was torn down and replaced by a big box power center. Then I went to the outlet mall and found since the last time I visited they had doubled in size." Guzman speculates that part of the reason this is happening is since the stock market isn't doing so good, investors have money they are putting into retail building. "There's just a lot of money out there."

Critic of the project Dave Harris of M and H Properties who owns Sequoia Mall says he believes the proposed Orosco project is "premature" and believes virtually all the proposed stores planned for this development could find a place with the existing or approved centers. "This project will mean lots of new vacant space that won't be filled for years," says Harris who fears their mall will lose Ross for example.

Orosco told the city planning commission that he would acquire the Target building if Target takes space out at the new center and then would work with Kohls - a new store coming to California - to backfill that space. But Harris says he has talked to Kohls' people and "they don't want to go into an old Target store - they want a new one." He says the problem is that Orosco can try to backfill the space but in general, stores will be backfilled with tenants who are "likely going to pay lower rents."

The city planning commission had considered putting a condition on phasing of the project to ensure that any user greater than 20,000 sq. ft. that relocated to the center was backfilled to keep the rest of the Mooney strip viable. But instead of that idea the city will rely on the city's own general plan says Dianne Guzman that asks the council to make a finding that a project won't cause economic harm on the remainder of Mooney. Critics says by the time this is discovered it will be too late.

"Visalia Mall is going to get hurt too," says Harris because stores selling soft goods will get some heavy competition. "Downtown is going to be hurt by all the new restaurants going out there at one time,"says Harris - an argument some downtown restauranteurs say they are concerned about too. "I'm worried the new center will become a destination," says Café 225 owner Karl Merten.

The shopping center could have 6 to 10 new restaurants located nearby reminding some of River Park in Fresno - a center blamed for empty stores around Fresno because of its popularity. A Fresno Bee article quoted someone who called the place the equivalent of the new town square.

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Gang Activity Heats Up
Local Involved In New Kelly Scott-Type Incident

Visalia - A friend of our picked up his child at school this past week and was driving home east off 198 up the Demaree offramp stopping at the light. Sitting in their SUV it was 3:15 in the afternoon.

Up pulled one, then another small car. Before they could blink, shots rang out as the car on the far right shot back at the car to its left. In the path of fire as bullets flew was our driver and his 5 year old child. "I immediately ducked and pulled my child's head down to the floor boards,"says my friend.

"The first thing I thought about is that this whole thing was just like the Kelly Scott Incident."

"Only we were lucky," says my friend - "we didn't die."

It turns out 2 bullets blew out his tire and another lodged in the side of the door inches from where the child was sitting. Before he knew it the light turned green and the two cars sped off.

On the floor of his car with one hand on his 5 year old with the other he reached for his cell phone and dialed 911. He looked up and saw one of the cars and was able to describe it.

Police found that car - the one that was shot at - in part because one victim was critically wounded.

This case is "definitely gang related," says Jim Nelson, assistant police chief. "We have search warrants out and strong leads in the case," says Nelson. Because they have not yet caught the shooter, our friend's name will be kept out of the papers.

"The community needs to know this is happening," says our friend, "our community must get their priorities straight."

Nelson says the incident of violent crime statewide has gone up in the past year at the same time more parolees that had been arrested in the 1990s are being let out of prison. Hard core state parolees are often teaming up with young recruits as the number of gang related killings in L.A. is three times the number it was just a year ago. Some 63 people have died.

The California Dept. of Corrections releases 500 prisoners a month. The CDC website says that the central valley received nearly 24,000 parolees in a year. It also says that 54% of parolees return as parole violators.

Nelson says just because there is less graffiti in our town and the news about gangs isn't on the front page everyday, the police department maintains its gang fighting unit and carries out special enforcement duty all the time. "Sometimes we use them to do other jobs where we need to make an impact, like problems on Mooney Blvd.," says Nelson. But most of the time they are working the gang beat, often working with other jurisdictions. "Our problem often comes from outside our town," says Nelson. "They were in Lindsay last week and Probation brought in 3 people this week involved in a shooting in Tulare."

Nelson says gang activity seems to run hot and cold. "Sometimes you get a flash point between two gangs and shots are fired. You can bet in a week or two that gang will be firing back." Police statistics in Visalia show aggravated assault in town was up 13% in the past year and homicides were 4 compared to 5 the year before.

Visalia PD has been active in monitoring violent behavior with 353 felony arrests, 106 parole violations, 21 firearms seized, 484 gang cards issued and 210 probation and parole searches.

Gang warfare in our town where Kelly Scott and my friend get caught in the crossfire, may shake the community's sensibilities. In the case of Kelly Scott it happened at Ben Maddox and Houston resulting in the young father's death in February 1995. The senseless killing resulted in community outrage, forums and finally action in a self imposed tax to build a new juvenile hall in the county and stepped up police enforcement efforts. Of course a stray bullet from gang member Sammy Espinoza killed 13 year old Nancy Saechao at Recreation Park in 1999. Espinoza is now doing 34 years in prison. "We need to put these guys off the street," says my friend.

Nelson says while people can't do anything about being caught in a situation like this, vigilance and wariness in driving around town ought to be the byword.

In the meantime, expect a gathering community forum to ask - are we doing enough to meet the problem head on?

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