The city has accumulated 32 acres of land in this location over many years, and a future city hall and community center are planned for here as well. This area was selected with the idea that it will help jump-start growth and development in east downtown.
However, remember that this is not a stand-alone project. Visalia has had numerous projects, both public sector and private sector, which have been encouraged and developed in this area in recent years. Let me remind you of some of those projects.
∙ Buckman Mitchell Inc. took a leap of faith and moved their headquarters to a new building at Santa Fe and Murray a few years back.
∙ Visalia purchased the former Chamber of Commerce building and moved its administration into that building in August 2015.
∙ Imagine-U Children's Museum to the east of the chamber building has been under construction, and will be open to the public by the time you read this. This will be a tremendous draw to east downtown.
∙ A new traffic signal at Ben Maddox and Douglas will be installed in early 2016.
∙ Oak Street will be built through to Burke, including railroad improvements.
∙ Mill Creek Trail is under design in that area and will be under construction in summer 2016.
∙ The Jennings Ditch Trail is anticipated for construction in late 2016.
∙ Edison lines will be undergrounded with anticipated construction this fall.
∙ Burke Street will soon be put through north to Houston Ave., where there is currently a cul-de-sac, giving us another north-south arterial. The city is currently securing the final right of way.
∙ New Downtown storm drain pipelines will be installed with construction beginning in November 2015. The former Soroptimist Park will be used to construct a new storm drainage pond (Soroptimist Basin) for these waters to flow into. This project will substantially mitigate the risk of flooding in the downtown area.
In order to encourage further east downtown development, the roads and infrastructure must be put in as set forth above. Much of the cost of these improvements will be paid via grant money, and will cost millions of dollars.
I predict that in addition to the new VECC, twenty years from now a new City Hall-Community Center along with other commercial properties and offices, and even high-density housing will be built in this area. The foundation for a successful future in east downtown Visalia is being laid by the city today.
Senior Games - Final reminder that the inaugural Visalia Senior Games are quickly approaching, to be held October 21-25, 2015. The deadline for registering is October 8, so go to visaliaseniorgames.com now to register or volunteer. Our senior games are the first in central California and will be under the umbrella of the California Senior Games Association (CSGA). In late August, the CSGA sent out notice to its members and athletes regarding our games. The CSGA has over 15,000 California senior athletes in its database. It will be interesting to see how many athletes we will have participating from our community versus those from throughout the state and region. We'll have nine athletic events for seniors age 50 and older, there will be an opening ceremony at Riverway Sports Park, including music, dinner and a parade of athletes, and there will be a Friday evening social at the Garden Street Plaza. All you senior athletes and former athletes, don't miss this event! Come have fun with us, and use this event, as I am, as motivation to get in shape! Visalia's slogan is "Winning Never Gets Old!"
Warren Gubler
Visalia Vice Mayor
(559) 713-4400 x 3313
wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us
