Cypress Plans New Direction for Aging Street
Lincoln Center in Cypress doesn’t house the New York Philharmonic--it’s home to Fran’s Nails. The shopping center is among the dozens of mini-malls, auto body shops and motels that line Lincoln Avenue, one of the city’s main drags.
But this bedroom community on the edge of northwest Orange County hopes to bring a touch of big-city style and architectural distinction to the tired boulevard with a $4.3-million revitalization about to get underway.
“We’re talking about Frank Lloyd Wright prairie architecture, as opposed to false architecture, stucco and that sort of thing,” said City Manager Mark J. Ochenduszko. “This is not typical Orange County.”
Massive marble and granite pillars inspired by Wright’s designs will grace a monument welcoming motorists to the west end of the city. A clock tower will be built at an intersection that is currently home to a meat market and a fast-food Mexican restaurant. The plan also includes Victorian-style globe lamps, Art Deco bus stops and new pocket parks.
Officials hope the face-lift will draw more upscale business to Lincoln Avenue: They envision chic coffee shops, sidewalk cafes and upscale booksellers.
In a proposed rezoning that the City Council will soon consider, new tattoo parlors and taxidermists would be discouraged, while toy stores and travel agencies are encouraged. The motel area, which some consider seedy, will be rechristened “Campus Village” because it is close to Cypress College. The strip a few blocks away will be called “Downtown”--which is news to some along this truck route.
“Downtown? Does Cypress have a downtown? I don’t think so,” said Michael Anderson, 21, a graphic designer at Cypress Printing at Grindlay Street and Lincoln.
For all the grand plans, Cypress officials acknowledge that they face a challenge. Locals point to several gaming halls to the west in Hawaiian Gardens and topless dancing clubs to the east in Anaheim.
“We are a rose among thorns,” said Dick Anderson, Michael’s grandfather and longtime owner of Cypress Printing.
The redevelopment effort for the city of 47,000 is one of several being undertaken by aging North County communities struggling to update their image.
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Anaheim has pumped more than $500 million into an massive effort to revitalize the motel district around Disneyland by removing decrepit neon signs, adding new street furniture and placing electric lines underground. Buena Park has a similar effort underway along Beach Boulevard north of Knott’s Berry Farm.
But Cypress officials say their effort is different. Their goal is not just to clean up the look of the street but to create a downtown feel on a par with historic Pasadena or Burbank. Like many suburbs nationally, they are trying to create a center.
“When people enter into Cypress along Lincoln Avenue, we want them to know they’ve arrived,” city planner Alice Angus said. “Right now they don’t know when they’ve gone from one city to the next. It all looks the same.”
Cypress, named for the dark green, twisting evergreen tree, was called Dairy City when it incorporated in 1957 because of the many dairy farms in the area. It boomed along with Garden Grove and other larger cities in the 1970s with the construction of thousands of single-family homes. In the last decade, it has changed again. The gas and oil tank farm that once dominated the center of town has been replaced by a planned residential community. A sleek glass-box business park has gone up on the city’s southern end, with big name tenants such as PacifiCare, Sony and Matsushita.
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The missing piece for many officials is the northern end, along Lincoln Avenue.
“After all the money they’ve put into the business park, it’s about time they did something for us,” said Mark Miller, general manager of Hyatt Dicast on Lincoln Avenue, which employs more than 100 workers.
There are signs of hope, many feel. Home Depot arrived this August near the east end of the avenue, a boon for city coffers as well as a one-shot cleanup of five long vacant parcels. At the other end, Forest Lawn Mortuary continues to keep its end of the strip quiet and green, merchants and residents said.
Still, the mortuary does display billboards, including one that greets residents coming into town with the statement: “One Call Arranges All: Undertaking, Cemetery, Church, and Flowers.”
Further down the strip, there are restaurants, dance studios, a church and other small businesses.
The community will hold a groundbreaking and fair today at the Tower Business Center at Lincoln and Grindlay.
The center, a mini-mall currently managed by City Councilman and real estate agent Walter K. Bowman, is occupied only by a computer store and a beauty salon. It symbolizes the promise and plight of the whole avenue, Bowman said.
“There’s a lot of interest in Lincoln,” he added. “It’s a major thoroughfare in Orange County, but it’s lain kind of dormant.”
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Sprucing Up Lincoln Avenue
Cypress city officials hope a $4.6-million face-lift of a three-mile stretch of Lincoln Avenue will revitalize the rundown thoroughfare. A look at the improvements:
Frank Lloyd Wright inspired entry monuments
Downtown District clock tower
Entry signs
Campus Village
