Public sees plans for downtown San Bernardino
By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- Entertainment - particularly the rebirth of a downtown cinema -- is an essential aspect to reawakening the city's slumbering core, said the town's redevelopment chief on Thursday.
"We can't do it based on housing because housing will take to long," said Emil Marzullo, interim director of the San Bernardino Economic Development Agency.
Marzullo offered his view during Thursday's public presentation of the Downtown Core Vision/Action Plan at City Hall.
One key aspect of the plan is the suggested dedication of the area around California Theatre and former CinemaStar site on Fourth Street as an area for entertainment and dining.
"Our success is going to be judged by the first move we make," consultant Vaughan Davies
Davies is director of urban design for EDAW, an urban consulting firm with offices in Los Angeles.
The establishment of a major civic center near the 215 Freeway -- and in the place of the moribund Carousel Mall -- is another significant component of the plan, which could take decades to accomplish.
Recent events that occurred independently of the downtown planning process show movement toward both of those objectives.
On Monday, the City Council voted to ask the federal government for a $9 million loan that would enable Los Angeles-based Maya Cinemas to refurbish the former CinemaStar site into a functioning movie theater.
Maya Cinemas also plans to develop commercial space around the theater, but the firm says it needs government assistance to complete its plans in the midst of a tight credit market.
Marzullo has said that Maya Cinemas could show movies at the theater by the end of the year. If the federal government grants a loan and the project fails, the EDA would have to assume loan payments. The city could also lose its ability to tap into federal Community Development Block Grants.
San Bernardino County officials have their eye on the Carousel Mall site. County supervisors met behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss the potential purchase of the property to build a new government center.
County officials have not completed any deal to buy the property.
"If we are able to capture the interest of the county, we could be in the ground in the next 24 months," Davies predicted after delivering his presentation.
Davies said Thursday that the county's plans do not conflict with the ideas being presented by EDAW and the Economic Development Agency.
He said another option is to also move San Bernardino City Hall to mall location, which could also feature retail space.
The land where Carousel Mall sits is not living up to its potential. Mayor Pat Morris remarked that the downtown In-N-Out Burger franchise generates twice as much tax revenue as the shopping center.
Perhaps most important to the officials and consultants working on the plan, a new Civic Center would provide an opportunity to build a dramatic high-rise that could show freeway travelers that San Bernardino aspires to be identified as a city, not just another suburb.
"We have great visibility from the freeway that has not been really taken advantage of," Davies said.
Marzullo said the new plan has cost about $350,000 to prepare. Longtime San Bernardino residents may be highly skeptical regarding redevelopment plans.
The "Lakes and Streams" project once proposed to transform the area north of the city's core has all but vanished from public discourse. Another concept -- the transformation of Carousel Mall into a mixed-used development -- was canned after the real estate market began its slide.
"This is a plan that needs to be developer ready as soon as possible," Davies said.
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Andrew Edwards. E-mail Andrew here.
The re-opening of the theatre will stimulate the revitaliztion of the downtown San Bernardino. In addition, the development of the San Bernardino Transit Center and Transit Village will energize the creation of a more livable, healthy, and safe community.
star light ,star bright,.....John Chiu wishes upon every star he see's at night....i guess youre hoping if you say it ,it will be so....good luck with that...
The plan EDAW has developed is a repositioning strategy, first and foremost. It seeks to reestablish the urban core San Bernardino once was so that it competes with Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, as well as other first-tier cities outside the state and outside the country.
The strategy is incredibly well-conceived. Between sbX, the Metrolink extension, the new local rail service to and from the Riverfront District and Redlands, the international airport, and the high-speed rail line, plus the modernized and expanded 215, San Bernardino is in a prime position to capitalize on its powerful competitive advantages, including acres of developable land in the midst of existing high-density development with a mature and authentic urban fabric that encompasses great roads, utilities, and other infrastructure that already exists and that is ready to go.