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…
A drive past the site of the Regency Tower site in downtown Riverside shows work is well underway on the 3-level, underground parking garage for the $70 million office building. The past few weeks has seen the arrival of an on-site crane used for the building’s skeletal steel frame. Over the next several months, downtown…
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…
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….
Situated approximately 1 mile west of downtown Riverside is Mount Rubidoux, a small but impressive hill overlooking the city. Rising 1,364 feet above sea level, the rocky hill gets its name from Jurupa Rancho owner Louis Robidoux (note the different spelling) who settled in the area during the mid-1800s. In 1906, Mount Rubidoux was acquired…
The past two weekends saw us at opposite ends of Riverside. Last weekend, we had the chance to take in the reopened Arlington Branch Library. While there, we took a few photos of the nearby Arlington Village commercial area. This weekend, we spent some time downtown checking in on the refurbishing of the Main Street…
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…
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…
Luke tops MacKayBack in February, the City of Riverside asked which downtown parking meters you preferred — Luke or MacKay? To our delight, 54% of those who voted preferred Luke (the decidedly smarter, full-featured meter). 2008Luke 2008SmartStop 2007Site of Tequesquite Park The results of the poll, which were publicized a few weeks back, have been…
Last week, two city commissions delayed for a month their votes on the much anticipated Fox Plaza development proposed for downtown Riverside. Members of both the Cultural Heritage Board and Planning Commission — comprised of city-appointed residents — said the postponement was necessary until after the public comment period for the Draft EIR is closed….
