Councilman Pushes Downtown Face-Lift

Concerned that downtown revitalization efforts are proceeding too slowly, Councilman Frank Feldhaus called on city officials this week to pursue commercial development more aggressively.

“This process has taken way too long,” Feldhaus said, pointing out that it has been 16 years “since our quaint, historical downtown was demolished” to make way for redevelopment projects.

“We made commitments to those businesses that moved into downtown West Harbor Place that the area would be a promenade,” Feldhaus said. “With empty fields of dirt and the current configuration of parking structures and buildings, I wouldn’t call it a walking anything.”

Feldhaus said he would like to encourage pedestrian activity by bringing in a movie theater or entertainment complex, a hotel, specialty shops and restaurants.

By energizing downtown and creating a greater sense of identity, he said, the area would become a magnet for the millions of tourists who visit Anaheim each year.

“The tourists ask, ‘Where’s a nice restaurant? What do you do for night life around here?’ Right now they pick them up in buses and take them to Newport Beach or Costa Mesa,” Feldhaus said.

A council member since 1992, Feldhaus said he is encouraged by the reopening this month of the former Celebrity Theatre next to City Hall. Now known as the Freedman Forum Concert Theater, the 2,500-seat venue has booked recording artist Kenny Rogers for Jan. 24-26.

“I want to see more restaurants in the downtown area where people could go before or after performances,” Feldhaus said. If downtown looked more appealing, he said, theatergoers would be drawn to the shops and restaurants along West Harbor Place.

“It has to be pleasant, it has to be lit up the same way, it has to be landscaped the same way,” he said.