Year: 2008

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Then & Now – Downtown Post Office

Over the past 96 years, downtown Riverside has seen 2 main post offices built, the first in 1912 and the second in 1939. First came the 1912 Federal Building/Post Office located on Seventh Street (Mission Inn Avenue). Sporting Italian-Renaissance architecture, the building served as the city’s main post office for nearly 30 years. Afterward, the…

Fairmount Park making a comeback

Arguably Riverside’s most interesting park, Fairmount Park is staging a comeback. After several years of neglect, the city recently completed various park improvements, including new gazebos, picnic tables and playgrounds as well as refurbishing of the boathouse, itself a 1995 replica of the original 1911 boathouse. One of the most expensive improvements was the dredging…

Committee finalizes expansion guidelines

After several months of public meetings, the 22-member Library/Museum task force held its final session this past week, producing what it calls “guiding principles” for the planned expansions of downtown’s Central Library and Riverside Metropolitan Museum. The key recommendation calls for separate expansions of both facilities, with enough space for each to meet their needs….

City Council approves portion of Fox Plaza

After a month-long delay in receiving Planning Commission recommendations, the Riverside City Council this past Tuesday approved a portion of Fox Plaza, the large mixed-use project proposed for downtown. Phase One site of Fox Plazawill include a Hyatt Place hotelMetroPacific Properties, LLC Fox Plaza – overviewMetroPacific Properties, LLC Project siteMS Virtual Earth 2007Stalder Building Located…

Task force favors separate library, museum expansions

A City Council-appointed task force assigned with revising Riverside’s library-museum expansion plans issued its draft recommendation this week calling for separate expansions for both institutions. The recommendation, which would reverse the city’s earlier combined expansion proposal, comes after several recent public meetings on the issue. Most critics of the original $25 million proposal — part…