”
Things will be great when you’re
… Downtown!
”
sang Petula Clark back in 1964.
“Things will be great when you’re … Downtown!” sang Petula Clark back in 1964.
Now the Hollister Downtown Association and RBF Consulting are trying to sing a similar tune, 44 years later, with a plan to turn downtown Hollister into a social epicenter for the young, old and everyone in between.
At a meeting Friday at Paine’s Restaurant, employees of RBF Consulting – the San Jose design firm hired to plan a new lively and unique downtown – showed what they’ve been up to for the past nine months.
In a two-hour slide show, the group covered improvements to street paving, parking and one-way roads, connecting the “downtown core” to eastern, northern and southern Hollister, building a central plaza, improving alleyways, increasing the number of downtown events and adding a larger variety of shops and activities.
The plan, which still needs approval from the HDA and Hollister City Council, cost $200,000. The Hollister Redevelopment Agency put up $150,000, and the HDA is posting the rest with help from local businesses. Still, planning is just the first step, and Mayor Doug Emerson, who attended the presentation, said he’s more interested in seeing the “aggressive plan” carried out.
“I’m anxious to see what they come up with for ongoing maintenance and restoration,” he said. “The RDA has plenty of money to get it started but not a lot to keep it up. If we can bring in enough commercial, so we can bring in enough sales tax, that would be the perfect (situation). You should always set your goals high.”
The designers wanted an aesthetic theme to stand out and talked about everything from decorative crosswalk paint to matching benches and trash cans. The firm also urged business owners to form a special “business improvement district” in which downtown merchants would pay extra taxes to make and maintain improvements.
RBF Consulting described the project in a mission statement: “Downtown Hollister is an economic, cultural, and social center that respects the past, present, and future through its blending of people, places, and possibilities.”
Vedana Freitas of Re/Max Synergy was at the meeting and said after the meeting that she’d like downtown to be a place in which more young people can have fun. She said many younger professionals who come to Hollister leave after a year or two when an opportunity in a more “exciting city” comes around.
“The bottom line is people spend their money where they spend their time,” she said. “I’d love to see some of the little things they talked about today happen soon.”
Al Zelinka, vice president of RBF Consulting, said his company has designed more than 200 downtowns in cities across America. The biggest challenge in Hollister, he said, has been where to start.
“The people of Hollister not only have interest in the downtown, they have an intimate knowledge of it,” he said. “They view downtown as an intricate community that’s connected to their lives.”
Key points in new downtown plan
Add a larger variety of shops
Increase number of downtown events
Build a new civic center
Develop cohesive aesthetic theme for downtown
Develop “business improvement” tax district for downtown businesses
New items: trash and recycling receptacles, newspaper racks, bike racks
Additional amenities for San Benito Street
Enhance pedestrian crosswalks
Change certain streets to one way to allow for angled parking
