Downtown Project OKd
The city’s Redevelopment Agency has approved a revitalization program for the downtown area that is aimed at sprucing up shops and storefronts with public and private improvements.
An “old town” theme will be used in an effort to draw people into shopping in the area, which has languished since its boon in the 1930s and 1940s. The City Council, acting concurrently as the city’s Redevelopment Agency, approved the $3.5-million, five-year spending plan to upgrade the area’s landscaping, lighting, streets, sidewalks and storm drains.
“All the other cities in the San Gabriel Valley have upgraded their commercial centers and we’re the only one that has not,” said Mayor Bob Low. “The heart of our city is in need of attention.”
Besides the public improvements, downtown merchants will be encouraged to upgrade their storefronts. Under the proposal, the city has set aside $575,000 to repay up to 75% of the costs merchants incur, according to city staff.
Storm-drain improvements along major roadways, a critical first phase of the project, are tentatively slated for next summer.
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