Out & About – 09/16/2006

Saturday, September 16, 2006 – A few photos and thoughts while strolling the Main Street Pedestrian Mall in downtown Riverside.

The weather was sunny and mild as folks browsed the quaint stores or grabbed a bite to eat. Paper covers the windows of the future Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which is scheduled to open shortly at the base of the California Tower.

Valet parking was very busy at the Mission Inn hotel as both restaurant and hotel guests arrived and departed. The outdoor dining area for the hotel’s Las Campanas restaurant was brimming with chatter as patrons ate lunch al fresco. No doubt the interior restaurants were much the same.

Walking past the long-shuttered Imperial Hardware building, one can’t help but notice the semi-rusty, mid-century facade above that hearkens back to a different era when downtown was the epicenter of shopping with such outlets as Sears and JCPenney.

The Imperial building itself goes back to the early 1900s when it first opened as Franzen Hardware and later became Westbrook’s. Likely hidden behind the current metal facade is the 1930s Art Deco facade of Westbrook’s. There’s been talk recently of an office building proposed for the site.

Oh, and we noticed Starbucks’ new downtown location, which is a couple blocks north of the pedestrian mall, is now open.

Flash: Out & About slideshow

2024 PAGE UPDATE: Removed outdated link to slideshow.