Group Formed to Promote Revitalization of Downtown

Hoping to make the downtown area a cultural, recreational and economic magnet, a group of business owners, residents and city officials this week took the first step by creating the Downtown Anaheim Assn. to promote the city as a visitor attraction.

“In order for a downtown area to survive, you have to have people, and right now we have a situation where there are not very many people,” said downtown merchant John Machiaverna, owner of J. Mac Jewelers and Silver Screen Cafe.

Meeting Thursday, the group also drew up a mission statement and appointed a subcommittee to present a “vision” for the area at the next session, Sept. 11.

Machiaverna, co-chairman of the new association, said that people have to be given a reason to come back to an area razed in the late 1970s for new development.

The association’s mission statement proposes creating a public-private partnership to promote, develop and maintain downtown as the commerce and cultural center of North County, “an atmosphere and not just a physical place,” said Lisa Stipkovich, the city’s executive director for redevelopment.