BRAWLEY — City officials here are looking to the future and revitalization of the downtown area now that the dust of the most recent fire to hit the locale has settled.
While correcting much of the fire-related damages in the area rests on the shoulders of the privately owned and fire-affected businesses, City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore assures the city is doing what it can to rebuild “the heart of the city.”
Progress reports documenting what steps businesses have taken since the string of fires are presented to City Council members on a weekly basis and the city continues to pressure for cleanup, Moore said.
“When it’s a hazard we’re in the mode of contact, follow-up and addressing,” she said. “We want to maintain cleanup efforts.”
Despite the challenging economic times, Moore said the city is optimistic about the future of the downtown area and will continue to invest in improvements to facilities.
Also, Moore said the city is “very open to combining with the private sector to see what is possible and viable in the downtown area.”
“It’s a challenging chapter in the city’s history to be certain,” Moore said. “We hope we can continue to be an anchor in the downtown along with a few of the other agencies and businesses that are our core presence. As the economic times improve we’re hopeful that people will not forget that the downtown is the core of the city and we’re not ready to abandon it.”
In an effort to renew and bring focus back to the area, the city is looking to bring items and events to downtown that would otherwise be held at different locations.
Recently, the downtown area played host to the “Taking Back Main Street” event and could potentially be the site of other events in the near future, Moore said.
“Every time we have the chance to use downtown as a venue we will,” she said. “We hope we can continue to feature the attractive part of downtown as a place for convening and enjoying being in the city of Brawley.”
Beginning in the fall, downtown will host a series of farmers markets complete with vendors, produce and a beer garden, said Keira Sparks-Jacques, Brawley Chamber of Commerce administrative assistant.
“There will also be entertainment and a kids’ fun zone and this will tentatively be located at the south plaza in downtown Brawley,” Sparks-Jacques said.
The farmers market will hopefully begin in October and will be held on the second Saturday of each month for six months and is a joint project between the chamber and the local Boys and Girls Club, Sparks-Jacques said.
The chamber is also doing what it can to help the area progress and is working with the Brawley Community Foundation to restore parts of downtown.
“We’re working to revitalize the Brawley theater and bring back the feeling that it had in the past,” Sparks-Jacques said. “We’re bringing back some of the people who went there so they can get involved or help or volunteer.”
Mayor Sam Couchman added the city is also hoping to bring certain Cattle Call and other city events to downtown in order to limit the Cattle Call Arena and Wiest Field to equestrian events and baseball games, respectively.
Ultimately, Couchman said the purpose of harnessing focus to downtown was a way to revitalize, recover and progress.
With the recent addition of the Transit Transfer Station to the area, Couchman said he hoped it would create more pedestrian traffic and in turn benefit the businesses there.
“The (transit transfer) station was very beautifully done,” Couchman said. “It has a very nice set up and we’ll maintain to keep it that way so it can be a positive attraction in the downtown area.”
In addition to trying to bring more pedestrian traffic to the area Couchman said the city is also looking into parking to create a better and easier flow of vehicular traffic.
“We want to maximize the amount of parking down there and we’re looking at safe ways to do that,” Couchman said. “We’ve discussed diagonal parking and how that might impact the area.”
Also, the city is looking into lighting for the area and perhaps encouraging businesses to have two entrances.
“With limited funding we will do what we can and do our best to work with the private sector businesses,” he said.
In addition to working with the local businesses, Couchman said the council is also open to hearing ideas from the public regarding beautification, landscaping or parking.
“Historically things are highly resistant to change and I think it’s important to be more open to experimentation,” Couchman said. “We look at downtown and we are encouraging innovative ideas to enhance economic development and too see how we can make it better off. We encourage the community to continue to support the downtown area because we still have viable businesses there.”
Staff Writer Karina Lopez can be reached at 760-337-3439 or klopez@ivpressonline.com
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