Covina OKs Face Lift for Shopping District

John Helwig was watching the television show “Knight Rider” one evening when something on the screen caught his attention. “Hey, there’s our hometown on TV!” he recalled saying to himself.

He spotted familiar shops such as Logan Covina Hardware, Covina Book Store, Covina Hobby Shop and other stores that make up the city’s three-block downtown along Citrus Avenue. Helwig, a 26-year-old Covina native, takes pride in the street. “It’s got a homey feeling,” he said. “This is your typical little town, hometown U.S.A.”

In an effort to preserve that hometown feeling at a time when strip shopping centers--often anchored by franchise stores such as doughnut shops--increasingly dominate the suburban landscape, the City Council has awarded a $2.9-million renovation contract to give the downtown business district a major face lift.

‘Window of the City’

The project is welcomed by leaders of the Covina Downtown Assn.

“I think it’s a fantastic project, not just for downtown but for Covina as a whole,” said Jerry Edgar, association president and owner of Custer’s, a gift and card shop. “Downtown is the window of the city.”

City Manager John Thomson said the city is still working with merchants to encourage them to participate in a storefront-improvement program. If they agree to improvements, such as installing new awnings and signs, merchants would be eligible for rebates of up to $25,000, Thomson said.

Not all merchants are boosters of the project, however. Edward Zovy, owner of the Covina Hobby Shop, said it would increase the rent on his store. “It was forced upon us,” he said.

Add Street Lights

But other merchants said they are looking forward to the renovation program, which would add ornamental street lights and brick sidewalks to complement a Victorian theme for the street.

Don Matheson, owner of Logan Covina Hardware, said a fresh look downtown could only strengthen the appeal of personalized service that small stores such as his offers.

And Sandy Carey, owner of the Country General Store, a country novelty shop on the north end of the street, endorsed the concept, with some reservations.

“We’re enthusiastic about it, but we’re kind of leery because it runs into the Christmas season,” Carey said.

To give the contractor, Griffith Co. of Long Beach, an incentive to finish as early as possible, the city has agreed to pay a $1,000 bonus for each day the project is completed ahead of schedule, Mayor Bob Low said.

“We wanted to do everything we can to make sure the Christmas shopping season isn’t disturbed,” Low said. The contractor has also been authorized to work at night, he said.

Many downtown merchants said the upgrade is long overdue. Through the years, J. C. Penney and other clothing stores have fled the downtown as enclosed shopping malls gained popularity. And although the street has just one vacancy--where a beauty salon used to be--many of the storefronts feature sun-faded signs and the cement sidewalks are chipped and cracked.

Carey, who bought the country store last October, said the renovation project helped dispel any reservations she had about locating in Covina.

“When we bought the store we did hear of the development and that made me feel better that something is going to be done,” Carey said. “We’re a little wary of the way it looks now.”

On a recent afternoon, shoppers echoed the merchant’s divergent opinions about the renovation.

Priscilla Dewhirst, who was buying magazines at the Covina Book Store, feared that shoppers attracted by a refurbished downtown would make the area too crowded.

Dewhirst, 40, who does most of her shopping near her work at Santa Anita Fashion Park in Arcadia, said a renovated downtown would not make Citrus Avenue a more appealing shopping place for her.

“They should put some better stores here,” she said.

But Helwig, a longtime patron of Citrus Avenue stores, said the changes would preserve an increasingly rare commodity in southern California: the old-fashioned downtown.

“I grew up here all my life,” Helwig said, pointing to the surrounding stores. “This has integrity.”