Mayor Vows Renewal Plan Will Pay Off

As they held a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday for a downtown parking structure, city officials asked residents for patience and faith in their plans for a revitalized downtown.

Mayor Jack Tingstrom and other city officials welcomed bystanders to the southwest corner of Santa Clara and California streets for, as he put it, a “groundbroken” ceremony. Construction workers have been working at the site for the past two weeks, clearing trees and tearing up the parking lot.

“This project has been over two years in the making,” Tingstrom told an audience of downtown merchants, city officials and developers. “It will provide over 500 parking places to revitalize downtown.”

The $4.8-million parking structure is just part of downtown’s biggest redevelopment project to date. Scheduled for completion by next March, it will stand on what was until now a municipal parking lot.

Around the corner, at Chestnut and Main streets, construction will begin in August on a $6.5-million, 10-screen theater and retail complex.

Both structures are designed in a curving, soaring Art Deco style, to reflect the character of Ventura’s historic downtown.

Tingstrom urged listeners to hang tough during the difficult months of construction ahead--promising that in the end it will pay off.

“I remember when they were tearing down all the trees downtown to fix up California Street,” he recalled. “People came up to me and said, ‘You’re ruining downtown.’ Later they came back and told me how much it helped.”

Councilman Gary Tuttle, chairman of Ventura’s redevelopment agency, said that the theater and parking structure will revitalize Ventura’s historic hub, and bring 600,000 moviegoers annually to downtown Ventura. He said the project is expected to generate a 36% increase in sales tax revenues and 350 full- and part-time jobs, and to raise property values downtown by $15 million.

Victor K. Georgino, developer for the theater and parking structure, said Ventura’s challenge will be not unlike challenges faced by downtowns all over Southern California in the struggle to revitalize.