Downtown Gilroy .. with Jeff Orth: Downtown Gilroy is blooming with exciting new developments
Gourmet Alley will provide a wonderful pedestrian area from Fourth to Sixth streets.
By Jeff Orth
Jeff Orth
If you have not been downtown lately, you should come see all that is happening.
Summer is coming and your Gilroy Downtown Business Association has been working to brighten up our downtown. Planters are bright with new flowers, the sidewalks have been cleaned, the trees are lit up in preparation for the upcoming events.
The Gourmet Alley Project is well underway. Everyone is looking forward to the completion of the street improvement project by the end of this year.
Visit Gilroy, Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, and the Gilroy Downtown Business Association have been working closely with the city of Gilroy to ease the impact of the construction pro-cess and create the best possible outcome for business owners and the community.
City Administrator Jimmy Forbis has been very responsive to suggestions and offers of as-sistance from the three partner organizations. With their input, the city was able to re-work the final layout of the parking lots to maximize the number of spaces available.
The large new parking lot at Seventh and Eigleberry streets always has spaces available, and is only two blocks from the heart of downtown — so no need to worry about parking.
And if you and your friends want to come downtown and all have a wonderful time, the city and Visit Gilroy have joined resources to offer a $10 discount for those taking Uber to the downtown area. (Use Uber voucher code “downtowngilroy.”)
In addition, the parking lot on the corner of Fourth and Monterey streets is almost finished. It is paved, planted and lights are in place. Look for it to be open soon.
The city has also been working closely with business owners to make sure they all have necessary access for customers and deliveries. Covale, Overflow, Settle Down, Psycho Donuts and several other future businesses have or will have outdoor areas on the alley once completed.
Gourmet Alley will be an amazing addition, providing a wonderful pedestrian area from Fourth to Sixth streets.
In addition to the work on Gourmet Alley, the city is also going to resurface Railroad Alley, and provide safety fencing along the railroad tracks.
Additional mural projects are in the works for the backs of the buildings along Railroad Al-ley, with the hopes of it being a beautiful pedestrian walkway and an attractive site to our transit riders as they come into town.
The GDBA members are hard at work planning for an event-packed summer downtown. Starting Thursday, June 13, the ever-popular summer music series Downtown Live will be back, rocking Monterey Street. Due to popular demand, the series has been expanded from eight to 10 concerts this summer.
And make plans to celebrate our nation’s birthday with a special Downtown Live on July 4. Come for an Independence Day dinner and some dancing, before heading to Gilroy High School to watch the fireworks show. Be sure to follow us on our website www.downtowngilroy.com, Facebook and Instagram to see the band line-up and other up-to-date information.
On Saturday, July 20, you will want to bring the whole family downtown for the Heart of Gil-roy Art Festival, which will feature wine tasting, local artists, a kid’s zone, and craft and food vendors.
With all that’s going on downtown, it’s important to keep focused on the ambitious final goal. Yes, there will be some inconvenience during the process of the Gourmet Alley project. But in the end, we will enjoy a pedestrian area we all can be proud of and enjoy — and one attracting visitors from out of town.
Please remember our businesses need your support now more than ever. We have so much to offer right now, and so many more businesses in the works.
Make plans with your friends to come downtown and see for yourself, then tag the GDBA with pictures of you having a fun time so your friends will know what they are missing.
Can’t wait to see you all downtown!
Jeff Orth is the chair of the Gilroy Downtown Business Association.