Makeover squared
Revitalized plaza breathes new life into downtown Santa Cruz.
Despite cool weather and a light mist, Allison Weinstein and a friend relaxed outdoors at downtown Santa Cruz’s Abbott Square on a recent evening, sipping cocktails at a patio table as their children ate and romped nearby.
“I come here a lot; it’s a good girls-night-out place,” said the Scotts Valley resident. “It’s kid-friendly and there are lots of food options, so everybody’s happy.”
Weinstein and her friends weren’t alone — open tables on the busy patio were scarce even on a November weekday night.
But the square wasn’t always such a relaxing setting. In fact, for years it was little more than a dank courtyard situated behind the city’s former jail that dead-ended at a dumpster enclosure — a place to be avoided after dark.
That all changed this summer, when the little-used plaza and alleyway underwent a transformation to Abbott Square Market, a hopping, art-filled community hub that opened Sept. 1 outside the Museum of Art and History. It’s now a bright and welcoming space flanked by an indoor food hall with six local restaurants, gourmet coffee, craft beer, wine and cocktails. The freshly paved patio is furnished with tables, umbrellas and radiant heaters. Counter and bar service is supported by a roaming staff that welcomes guests, clears tables, and maintains a family-friendly vibe.
Overhead, a kinetic sculpture of dangling red buoys appears to erase the walls of the looming Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, and towering murals soften the building’s sharp angles. The marketplace has quickly become a place to see and be seen. The combination of food, art and community gathering space has proved irresistible to fresh-air loving Santa Cruzans.
“I like it very much,” said Ken Payton, a local writer who now comes to the marketplace to work. “I like being outside. It feels noncommercial, I don’t feel that I have to buy anything to justify my presence.”
But what appears to be an overnight success was really a five-year campaign by museum Executive Director Nina Simon, who saw Abbott
For complete event information, check the Museum of Art and History’s and Abbott Square Marketplace’s websites at www.santacruz mah.org and www. abbott square market. com, respectively.
Square’s potential when she arrived at the struggling museum in 2011. The museum, which occupies the city’s former jail building, is landlord for the food court, patio and a historic building on the site. The goal of the development was to expand the museum’s influence beyond its walls, integrating the arts into downtown’s street scene. (Also, rents from the marketplace support museum operations.)
“We aimed to connect the inside of the museum with the outside world of downtown,” said Simon, whose leadership has rebuilt the oncesleepy museum into a nonstop cultural engine. “We saw the potential for a creative community plaza and town square.”
Simon’s vision involved tearing out the existing plaza, redesigning the site with multiple entrances, relocating business tenants to make way for the food court, and remodeling a historic building to accommodate two small restaurants. A once-sketchy alleyway now leads to a lovely “secret garden” and the museum’s airy atrium.
But Santa Cruz is famously prickly about development, and Abbott Square had the additional complication of being a place of historical significance. The plaza once connected the city’s beloved Cooper House — the county courthouse, built in 1896 — and the octagon-shaped Hall of Records (circa 1882), which once held birth, death and marriage records. Abbott Square also bordered the county jail, a fourstory concrete pile that now houses the museum.
The Cooper House for decades had restaurants, shops and free live music. But the elegant building was doomed by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, erasing a central gathering spot that was never replaced — until now. The redbrick Octagon still stands at the entrance to Abbott Square; it will soon house two additional restaurants.
“People wanted to see arts — visual and performing arts — and connections to the history of the community,” Simon said. “They wanted a safe and welcoming space for families. They wanted a place to socialize, to meet new friends and connect with old ones. And people wanted food. Food was key to bringing people in again and again.”
Armed with a 50-year lease of the former jail building, Simon raised more than $5 million in donations and powered through the city’s notorious planning process. John McEnery IV, a partner in San Jose’s San Pedro Square Marketplace (and nephew of former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery) was chosen to build and operate the marketplace.
Increased foot traffic was key to Simon’s plan — and the opening of Abbott Square Market has brought new visitors into the museum. Annual museum visits rose from 17,000 in 2011, when Simon arrived, to 60,000 in 2016. Visits have soared again in the weeks since Abbott Square’s opening.
“There are always some people who aren’t sure a museum is for them. But if they’re comfortable enough to stop for a beer, they might decide to come inside for some art and history, too,” Simon said.
“This is something we really needed, a nice space with outside seating,” said Daisy Paxton, a college student and native Santa Cruzan. “Outside it’s social, inside it’s quiet. The food is good. It’s dog friendly, and if you’re lucky, you get to see a live band.”