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Downtown Mall deconstruction update
By John Truitt
Removal of the entrance walls and the first sections of the Downtown Mall roof are already changing the way our central blocks look.
You can stand in the south plaza, ostensibly the corner of Market and Yuba, and look toward community landmarks. Looking west you can see the Lorenz Hotel and past the train tracks over to the cluster of buildings in the courthouse area. When you look east down Yuba you can see beyond the river valley and over to the bluffs.
It reminds me how thunderstruck I was one day, not long after the north end of the mall roof had been removed. I was standing next to the lawn up by the Shasta College Health Sciences Center. I looked over to the west and there was the Shasta Union High School District building on the horizon. (Of course I will always think of it as Nova.)
Opening up the space gives you a sense of place, geography, history. Outward, not inward. Downtown as a center rather than a hole.
Some staff members at the County Clerk’s Registrar and Elections office on the 1600 block of Market Street took a few of the plants that were growing in the middle of the Mall walkways, potted the plants, and will have them in their office. The more gigantic specimens, like the 18-foot-tall ficus trees, have already been cut and tossed.
I am not sad to see these plants go. They were big, and maybe even could have been pretty in a correct location, but the Museum of the World’s Largest Houseplants had seen its day and was not drawing any tourists.
As the interior layers are removed and revealed you realize how temporary and unfinished it looked, almost as if it were designed to be up for a short time. It appeared impermanent because the remaining mall features were so artless. Except for the glass towers, the majority of columns were straight, unadorned sticks of concrete. The planter areas were concrete slabs with a hole in the middle. Suburban sidewalk as interior decor. There are still incongruous outdoor wooden decks in the air. Those decks used to have small metal sculpture features, but that arty touch has been gone for years. The machinery is exposed, with metal pipes carrying wires to uncovered fluorescent tube fixtures drilled into the ceiling. Some iron beams holding up certain roof sections gave the feeling of an unending repair phase. Huge concrete electrical boxes jut out of the floor centers, holding big metal doors with hanging locks.
We are already talking about having our Christmas Light Spectacular there again this year. Community desire seems strong, and I know last year’s display was immensely popular. We do have some real costs to put it up. Viva will need to get some sponsor commitments. I am curious to see if our community can rally for this. Times are tough. But just as the changes with the Downtown Mall itself, the Christmas Spectacular projects itself into the future — an idea of creating new downtown Redding memories.
John Truitt is the executive director of Viva Downtown Redding.
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HOPE THEY DON’T PLAN TO PLANT “PALM TREES” (southern calif.) to replace any greenery here in (NORTHERN CALIFORNIA)!!
“The Museum of the World’s Largest Houseplants”
That could have been a great marketing tool for the old mall! Too late now I guess…..
Thanks for the 5:48 am laugh!
Thanks for the interesting perspective; there probably are not many people, even among those who pass by/around the malled area daily, who would take the time to notice the difference made by opening up this area. I remember very clearly the difference that was made by putting it there. The birth of the mall seemed to bring with it the death of what I had always considered Redding’s center, maybe its heart in more than a geographic sense.
Good Riddance!
I will be glad to see it all gone and the sky opened up.
I am glad to see the roof coming off the Downtown Mall. As one who was born and raised here, I always liked going downtown when I was groing up. It was not just shopping, it was visiting with friends and the shop owners — nothing like going to the “big box” stores today. But I remember also that downtown started to go down hill. Christmas 1970, the last season I worked at Penney’s gift wrap, one could no longer wait for a ride in the outside entrance with out being bothered by drunks that came up to Market Street from California Street. If our parents were not there to pick us up when the store closed, one of the managers had to wait with us until our ride arrived.
This is one of the reasons the mall was covered over — safety. Unfortunely, it was not too long after the Downtown Mall was opened that the street people found it to be a great place to hang out during the day.
I look forward to the day when Market Street is reopened and the cars and truckes are returned to liven up Downtown Redding.
P.S. Have you seen Downtown Walnut Creek? They have restored their Downtown. Their old stores now house “big box stores” instead of local local stores, but they have recaptured the feel of the 1950’s and 60’s. It is worth checking out.
Where have all the people in this town gone. I’m glad I live on the west side. The majority have havitated to the red clay of Enterprise to be near Wally World and Winco in their feeding frienzy. Have you noticed all the fat people here?
4 corners used to be a mild 4 street stop sign area but now looks like downtown San Jose. “Hey, let’s get in the car and cruise while we talk on the cell phone with a Starbucks coffee in our laps. ” We’ll stop at Micky D’s and get some transfat.
The downtown around Market is looking good and I’m proud of their progress. Let Enterprise stay there and we’ll enjoy the original Redding founded by Pierson B. and B.B.
Watch it Hodges! At least in Enterprize we don’t need GPS to find our way around.We have huge parking areas and all the streets are two way. What a novel idea that is. So eat your heart out as you drive in circles downtown.
Yes I mispelled Enterprise.But hey I live in Enterprise.The unwashed masses are known for their stupidity.
As i look to the West i see Shasta Union High School. Period.