Six months after being announced, the Riverside Plaza store of Nordstrom Rack is nearing its April 3rd opening date. The sibling of the high-end retailer will take up residence within a portion of the former Harris/Gottschalks/Forever 21 building, taking up a reported 45,000 sq. ft. on the ground level. The 3-story building underwent an extensive…
After several years of planning and 1.5 years of reconstruction, the doors swung open March 1 on the extensively renovated Riverside Convention Center in downtown. Located at the northern end of the Main Street pedestrian mall at Fifth Street, the convention center began life in 1976 as Ben H. Lewis Hall at Raincross Square. It…
Each year, thousands of visitors gather in and around the Mission Inn and along the pedestrian mall in downtown Riverside for the ‘Festival of Lights,’ which includes approximately 4 million holiday lights and over 400 animated figures. What began in 1993 as a modest, hotel-only event has grown into one of the premier holiday lights…
A special and unique appearance of a light rail car in downtown Riverside on Thursday gave residents a chance to view the possible future of transportation in Riverside. It also brought back the idea of Southern California’s once grand, Pacific Electric streetcar system, which formerly ran lines down Main, Market, Seventh (Mission Inn) and Magnolia…
(UPDATE, Aug. 27: Thanks to commenter Matthew, we’ve added new images showing the exterior changes being made to the former Harris’ building. Note the designs, however, have changed somewhat from what is depicted within the images — namely, the reversing of the exterior escalator.) Construction has been underway for the past several months retrofitting the…
If you haven’t already seen the new music video for “Let Em Know” by Riverside’s Alien Ant Farm, be sure to check it out as it includes several scenes filmed in downtown Riverside (intermixed with shots filmed in downtown Chicago). The song comes after a seven-year hiatus for the band and is on their new…
Kudos to the Los Angeles Times for “rediscovering” downtown Riverside and its growing arts and culture scene. From a recent article: Many people heading to Riverside make a beeline for the Mission Inn and spend the weekend at its spa, restaurants and pool. They barely venture outside, and that’s a shame because, as my husband…
One of the charms of downtown Riverside is the handful of small, one-of-a-kind shops, boutiques, bars and eateries, most of which are located on or near the Main Street pedestrian mall. Two such clothing boutiques — The Parrott and Toni Moore — were spotlighted this week by reporter Laurie Lucas of The Press-Enterprise. Owned by…
With several thousand in attendance, including police officers from throughout California and the West, the community of Riverside said goodbye to slain police officer Michael Crain on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Services began at The Grove Community Church before continuing at Riverside National Cemetery where Crain, 34, was laid to rest. Prior to his 11-years with…
After nearly 30 years — and several months of anticipation — Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour is once again back in Riverside! The relaunched chain held a grand opening this week for its 5th (and largest) restaurant near Riverside’s Castle Park. Those who grew up in Southern California during the 1970s and 1980s will fondly remember…
