GILROY
– Merchants and businesses hope new, upscale eateries that have
opened in downtown Gilroy’s historic buildings will help entice
large crowds for evening socializing and entertainment.
GILROY – Merchants and businesses hope new, upscale eateries that have opened in downtown Gilroy’s historic buildings will help entice large crowds for evening socializing and entertainment.
“Restaurants will definitely bring people downtown at night,” said Jim Habing, a member of the Downtown Task Force which is working on revitalizing Gilroy’s historic heart. “But you also have to keep them there in an inviting environment.”
Part of this involves providing activities such as theater productions, music, bowling, pool halls and nightclubs to keep patrons downtown after they finish their meals, he said.
He also plans to suggest at the next Task Force meeting the idea of having a weekly summer street dance to attract the community. Morgan Hill’s Chamber of Commerce has found its popular street dance successfully attracts residents downtown.
“The key is to make (downtown) so people can walk around and feel safe,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”
Mixing new with the old
A recent trend has been restaurant entrepreneurs developing prominent historic buildings in downtown Gilroy. In December, Gilroy’s Strand Theater building opened as a music venue with additional large rooms to hold catered events such as weddings and music performances. Three months ago, it started serving Southwestern food in its restaurant area.
The Station 55 restaurant opened 15 months ago after an extensive remodel in the historic firehouse location. Recently, the owners added a covered-patio for leisurely outdoor dining
And Gilroy-raised Glen Gurries and French-born Daniel Barduzzi hope to open at the end of this month after converting the 1906 Flemish baroque-style Old City Hall building into two restaurants. Upstairs, the Clocktower will offer patrons a fine-dining mixture of California and French cuisine. The downstairs patio area, called the Courtyard Grill, will serve a casual “California fun” menu.
Gurries and Barduzzi have had success with other upscale restaurants such as one in Pebble Beach as well as at the Stone Pine Estate Resort in Carmel Valley. Their next venture is generating quite a buzz in the promise of making downtown Gilroy regional food destination.
“I think the restaurants are key to revitalizing downtown,” said Kirsten Carr, executive director of the Gilroy Visitors Bureau located downtown. “They’re a huge draw. People are looking for historic places to eat, fun places to eat.”
Restaurants: ‘Piece of the puzzle’
But high-end restaurants have had a hard time making it in downtown Gilroy. Harvest Time restaurant across the street from the Old City Hall is one of the few that have proved to have staying power, providing fine dining since the 1920s.
Upscale Italian restaurant Classico occupied the Station 55 building, but failed after a short run. And recently, the Wild Rose restaurant took a stab at creating a locale for community entertainment and good food in the Old City Hall building. It closed after about nearly two years, so locals – particularly downtown merchants – wait with anticipation to see how the new upscale restaurants will fare.
Carr hopes, with executive chef Barduzzi’s track record, the Clocktower and Courtyard Grill restaurants will develop a regionally-wide reputation. This might then lure more local residents and Bay Area travelers to Gilroy’s downtown. And with more activity generated by the restaurants, this might energize efforts to spruce up the downtown’s run-down look.
“Obviously, we know we have a lot of work to do in downtown,” she said. “Restaurants are another piece of the puzzle for getting downtown improvements going.”
The Gilroy region offers many attractions for tourists such as Bonfante Gardens, the wineries, the Gilroy Premium Outlet stores and the scenic parks and lakes. However, in the last 20 years, downtown hasn’t had any big draw for tourists other than those looking for antique items.
But Reid Lerner, a Gilroy architect who serves as president of the Gilroy Downtown Development Corporation, said he feels very optimistic about the new restaurants, such as the Strand, Station 55, the Clocktower and the Courtyard Grill. And their success might bring attention to more casual establishments downtown such as the Mexican cuisine Cielito Lindo and breakfast-lunch diner ODs.
Downtown restaurants are more reflective of local interests compared with the chain restaurants such as Applebee’s and Fresh Choice in the Outlets, he said. Their uniqueness is part of their attraction.
“I think it will take more than restaurants downtown, though,” he said. “I’m interested in seeing a tourist hotel downtown, more office space, more people living downtown.”
Downtown’s infrastructure brings the historic district a blend of heritage brick commercial buildings, 20th Century Period revivals, the Art Deco of the 1920s and the Modern style of the 1940s. What many of these seedy-looking buildings now need thought is a make-over to create the aesthetics attractive to customers, Lerner said.
“I’m excited about the city street improvement program going on,” he said, describing how new sidewalks and improved parking and lighting will add ambiance to downtown businesses.
And entertainment-oriented businesses such as nightclubs, the Strand’s music venue, the Gaslighter, and the city’s proposed Cultural Arts Center will also bring vitality to downtown after-hours, he said.
Dave Peoples, owner of the Nimble Thimble store located in downtown, believes if downtown can successfully become a fine-dining draw, it might spur badly-needed upgrading.
“They’re part of the puzzle that will bring people downtown and be a significant influence on the improvement of the infrastructure,” he said.
Peoples, a former president of the Gilroy Downtown Development Corporation, said the “key to downtown’s success” is the property owners. Through “peer pressure,” he hopes owners will spend the money to rehabilitate their buildings with fresh paint jobs and other improvements.
He praises downtown developers such as Gary Walton who has been pro-active in making improvements on downtown Gilroy’s historic structures.
Station 55 co-owner Hassan Iravani said the city needs to give downtown a complete “facelift” instead of fixing up one block every year as it is now doing. He expects it will take seven years before improvements are made to the Fifth Street block where his restaurant is located.
“It seems this end of the city, which is the real old-time area, has been forgotten,” he said. “More needs to be done by city officials to make downtown more attractive.”
What’s on the menu for downtown?
If downtown is made more appealing to customers, local residents will come here for their dining, entertainment and boutique shopping rather than driving north to the downtowns of Palo Alto, Los Altos and Los Gatos, he said.
The Strand’s owner Earnest Brooks said downtown Gilroy should not try to compete with shopping malls and discount shopping centers, but preserve its unique heritage and accent its fine restaurants and specialized shops.
“What the downtown needs is for people to come to the downtown,” he said. “There are some wonderful places here. The downtown area is an overlooked jewel.”
Part of the draw to coming downtown is the quaint architecture of the historic buildings, and these must definitely be preserved, he said. But cosmetic work is needed to improve their look.
He compares downtown to a “neglected parent,” who, although old, still has a lot of character in the face that can be brought out with some tender loving care.
Restaurateur Gurries of the Clocktower and Courtyard Grill said he was drawn to putting his new restaurants in the Old City Hall building because of its striking look and its historic value. And spurred by co-partner Barduzzi’s reputation in the world of cuisine, the two restaurants are already taking reservations and booking holiday parties, he said.
“It’s an easy sell,” he said. “So is the building. It’s an extremely prominent facility.”
Gurries plans to promote downtown Gilroy as a location for dining and entertainment not just for his own restaurants but all eateries here.
“I think the downtown is getting a new attitude of businesses promoting each other and the location,” he said.
One idea he wants to suggest to other restaurant owners is working with entertainment venues such as the Gaslighter’s Music Hall and the Strand to combine dinner with tickets sales.
Gilroy already has one of the world’s most prestigious food fairs with the annual Garlic Festival, he said, and he would like to build that same reputation in the downtown.
Success stories will help promote public interest in improving one of Gilroy’s overlooked sections, Gurries said.
“Hopefully, we’re one of the many, and that will help people to invest downtown,” he said.
