Sept. 2008Renovation details Sept. 2008Fountain improvementsoutside City Hall Sept. 2008View north towardUniversity Avenue from Ninth Street Work continues to move along on the $10 million renovation of the Main Street Pedestrian Mall in downtown Riverside. The project is the first major rehab of the mall, which opened in 1966* spanning the former “Main Street” between…
Neighborhood community center opens 2008Orange Terrace Community Center Riverside unveiled the latest project from the city’s “Riverside Renaissance” initiative as the Orange Terrace Community Center opened to the public early Saturday. Located on the grounds of the Orange Terrace Community Park, the $11 million facility includes a gymnasium, banquet hall and multipurpose room. Also included…
Last Tuesday, the Riverside City Council approved in concept the recommendations for the future expansions of downtown’s Main Library and Riverside Metropolitan Museum as outlined by a community task force. The recommendations, which have also been endorsed by the governing boards of both institutions, call for the library to double in size to 120,000 square…
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…
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….
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…
After nearly 2 years of construction and renovation, Riverside’s Arlington Branch Library reopened to the public this past week following an 8,000 sq. ft. addition to the 99-year-old building. The new wing nearly triples the size of the current library to 13,000 sq. ft. The new addition mimics the original building’s Greek Revival styling, which…
In the midst of planning an expansion for the downtown branch, news surfaced recently regarding the future of another branch within Riverside’s library system, this time involving the possible relocation of the tiny, but unique, Marcy Branch. Located on Central Avenue just west of the Riverside Plaza, the Marcy Branch opened in 1958 replacing the…
