Rebuild Santa Clara’s downtown? It’s no pipe dream
You smell freshly baked bread from the historic bakery as you cross Franklin Street. The sun is rising behind the Santa Clara Theatre’s marquee and 60-foot vertical. Its neon turns off at the same time as the antique street lamps.
Residents slowly emerge from the townhouses above, each building a different style. The mission-style Town Hall clock begins to ring seven times.
Shop owners and business people already are inside their buildings at Bank Corners, the Creamery and the candy store, getting ready for their day. Restaurant workers clean from their night before. A 1930’s streetcar, packed with students and teachers, rings past on its way to the university.
Petula Clark serenades the dozens eating waffles as you enter the Art Deco coffee shop. You kiss your Mom hello and sit down right next to the juke box.
Downtown Santa Clara is coming to life. It’s not 1962. It’s 2022. Santa Clara once had everything described above. The eight-block area bordered by Monroe, Homestead, Lafayette and Benton Streets contained architectural gems such as The Santa Clara Theatre, City Hall, Wilson’s Bakery, Wade’s Pharmacy and The Santa Clara Creamery.
But in the 1960’s, Urban Renewal swept the country. Government officials felt old buildings and towns could be “modernized.” Locally, this resulted in the demolition of most of Downtown Santa Clara. It was replaced by a scattering of strip malls and forgettable buildings. Only the historic Post Office was saved.
In this process, we lost much more than individual buildings. We lost our city’s heart, the place you can point to and say: “There is Santa Clara.”
In 2016, one concerned citizen, Rod Dunham, began a Facebook page dedicated to the return of an authentic Downtown Santa Clara. In less than one year, 1,200 people have joined and momentum is growing.
Our group, “Reclaiming Our Downtown”, has four key “Visions” for the downtown:
• Return of the original street footprint
• Return of key architectural buildings, facades and unique features
• Protection of current retailers and residents during and after reconstruction
• The addition of mixed use buildings in the spirit of early 20th Century architecture.
A key goal of Santa Clara’s revised General Plan is to resurrect these eight blocks. Our group has presented our vision to Santa Clara’s Council and Downtown Revitalization Plan Committee. We are in discussions with neighborhood groups, businesses and property owners. Nearly all see it as possible.
Neighboring Bay Area cities have saved, re-built or enhanced their downtowns. This has benefited each financially. Campbell, half the footprint of Santa Clara, netted $80 million in retail sales last year. Los Gatos and Palo Alto revenues exceeded $200 million each.
In the 1980s, Mountain View revitalized its downtown. The “Downtown Task Force” stated: “We don’t want a Project; we want a ‘Place.’” They succeeded. The city’s retailers netted $85 million last year.
Downtown Santa Clara will not be a mall, a quad or a “Santana Row.” It will be a downtown resembling the best of what existed prior to 1967. Our goal is to see this done no later than 2022.
The time is perfect to right this wrong: to reclaim Santa Clara’s downtown and bring the city’s heart back to its original glory.
In 2016, one concerned citizen, Rod Dunham, began a Facebook page dedicated to the return of an authentic Downtown Santa Clara. In less than one year, 1,200 people have joined and momentum is growing.