Is there anything that has not been written at least once about
Gilroy’s downtown?
Is there anything that has not been written at least once about Gilroy’s downtown?
Yes.
The following snippets are in the newsroom of the Gilroy Dispatch waiting (the sooner the better) to become a bona fide press release:
• Mayor Tom Springer announced today a major redevelopment project that will renovate Gilroy’s downtown into a viable business community. The Monterey Street “snake” will be removed. Off-street downtown shopper parking areas will move vehicles off of Monterey Street to nearby parking areas. The movement of parked vehicles off Monterey will enable wider walkways, making room for sidewalk cafés, public benches and bicycle racks.
• The main centerpiece of downtown Gilroy will be the creation of a pedestrian mall from one of the least-used sidestreet arteries.
• A Bonfante-style garden and garlic-shaped fountain will be the centerpiece of the new Gilroy downtown pedestrian mall.
• A public and private sector coalition created the funding as the Gilroy Downtown Redevelopment Group. Funding has been earmarked and a groundbreaking date is to be set with the first stage of development planned for this year. The public, private sector development group proclaimed downtown Gilroy would become the crown jewel of our regional shopping community.
During the past 10 years, Gilroy has become a regional shopping center for everything from hundreds of outlet shops, depots, box stores and auto malls. We already have what most communities could only hope to attract, major out-of-town consumer shopping dollars being spent in our community.
Old Town Gilroy will be the fun experience of their serious regional shopping trip. The revitalized community will offer an “old town theme” with ethnic restaurants and a desirable old-fashioned ambiance that shoppers will embrace as part of their planned outing.
Greenhouse friendly, propane operated trolleys will shuttle weary shoppers from the outlet shopping area to Old Town Gilroy – and back.
Many communities have been successful with this marketing concept and most did not already enjoy the traffic Gilroy has as a regional shopping area. The problem for downtown Gilroy is that it has not been competing on a level playing field with the outlet shops and box stores.
Let the discount and box stores have their own game. Old Town Gilroy will be a shopper’s halftime break – a chance to get away from the hubbub and come to a place where family and friends can get re-acquainted over a soda fountain or have lunch while listening to the sounds of bubbling fountains accompanied by street musicians.
Must a story like this be only fantasy?
Is it not possible for our public and private sector leaders to shape a vision for our downtown? And implement that vision?
Why is downtown so important? Because a community’s downtown is a reflection of its spirit, its heart, soul and pride.
Gilroy has heart and soul and it has pride. Each summer that pride shines bright. For 25 consecutive years our town has staged a wildly successful regional/national event – with pride. Gilroy is brimming with pride – everywhere but downtown.
Our neighboring communities, Hollister and Morgan Hill, have leaders that have developed their downtowns without the benefit of outlet and box store tax dollars. The Morgan Hill Cultural Center is a project not being discussed for completion in 10 years, such as Gilroy’s proposed center – Morgan Hill’s Cultural Center just hosted a fabulous opening event.
The two communities are separated by only a few miles, but are a world apart when it comes to vision and leadership regarding downtown.
A new year dawns and it’s time for the elected leadership of Gilroy to approve a plan backed by a timeline and financed creatively as one of the city’s top priorities.
