State land transfer brings Ontario closer to restoring its downtown

Like a lot of cities and towns, Ontario is trying to revive its downtown.

The goal, which the city has been working on for several years, is the same as it is anywhere else: transform a major street or boulevard into a thriving area dominated by retail, office and residential development.

If everything goes as expected, the new downtown Ontario will be an 18-hour-a-day attraction and economic generator, said Dan Bell, the city’s communications and community relations director.

“We want people to spend the whole day shopping in downtown Ontario,” Bell said. “We want to slow them down so they can see how much is available to them. We want them to have breakfast in downtown Ontario, then go shopping in downtown Ontario and have dinner in downtown Ontario.

“That’s what we mean by an 18-hour-a -day attraction.”

In a way, Ontario’s downtown revitalization is a move back in time. The stretch of Euclid Avenue that will be renovated was once the city’s main shopping district, long before online shopping or regional shopping malls like Ontario Mills or Victoria Gardens entered the scene.

“We’re trying to go back to the way Ontario was before, when Euclid Avenue was the city’s financial hub.” Bell said. “All of the big-box, stand-alone stores were there, and that’s where people went to shop.”

The city moved closer to reaching that goal in June, when the California Department of Transportation agreed to hand over an approximately seven-mile stretch of Euclid Avenue bordered by Interstate 10 on the north and Merrill Avenue on the south.

That transfer, which took about 18 months to negotiate, means Ontario has a free hand to redo its downtown – generally defined as G Street to the north and Holt Boulevard to the south along Euclid Avenue – however it wants.

“It was a very important development,” said Khoi Do, Ontario’s chief engineer. “Now that we have full control of Euclid Avenue, we can focus on restoring our downtown exactly the way then city council has always wanted to do it. We can do it without having to worry about state regulations.”

Also in June, the city council voted to purchase the Granada Theater, a downtown landmark at 303 N. Euclid Ave. Built in 1926, the art deco structure is home to the Inland Conservatory for the Performing Arts, a dance, theatre arts, and music company.

That transaction is being negotiated, Bell said.

The downtown restoration will be done in phases, but how many phases, and when construction will start, hasn’t been determined.

Caltrans was able to agree to the transfer because Euclid Avenue is State Route 83, which runs north from Chino Hills to Upland, and eventually reaches San Antonio Heights, an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County.

Part of the transfer agreement calls for Caltrans to turn over $23.4 million to Ontario the  agency had budgeted for maintaining and upgrading that stretch of Euclid Avenue.

Ontario will also use that revenue for maintenance. That will probably include new signs, upgraded traffic light synchronization and changes to the area’s undeveloped properties, according to a city statement released when the transfer agreement was reached.

The city has always maintained Euclid Avenue’s large median, and it will continue to do so, Councilman Alan Wapner said.

“We’ve never really been able to define where downtown is, or agree on how to fix it, but now we’re in control,” Wapner said. “The transfer agreement with the state means we can develop it the way we want to.”

One piece of Ontario’s  downtown restoration is already in place.

The Mule Car Smokehouse opened in June at 200 N. Euclid Ave. in the former Bank of America building, a 101-year-old building that underwent a multimillion dollar renovation during its conversion into a restaurant.

That development, near Ontario Town Square, includes El Balcon  a separate rooftop restaurant and bar that is expected to open later this year.

Other planned downtown projects include:

* An expansion and upgrade of the Civic Center Campus that will include a fire station headquarters now under construction, a city office building, a 700-space parking structure and relocation of the Ontario-Montclair School District headquarters;

* More than 250 residential units and 11,000 square feet of retail is being added to the C Street and D Street blocks at Euclid Avenue, and 28 luxury townhome are slated to be built at 120 W. D St.;

* The University of La Verne,  which operates its College of Law at 320 E. D St., will add a second satellite campus, its College of Health;

* Redevelopment on the west side of the 100 block of North Euclid that will include up to 18 food and beverage spaces, and three “garden spaces” for outdoor dining and live music;

* A restaurant and brewery to the Holt X Palm showroom at 115 Palm Ave.;

* The Vault, home to 20 luxury and classic car condos, will be built at 211 W. Emporia St. That project will include a brewery and tasting room.

All of those projects will be connected by a transportation network that will encompass the soon-to-be expanded Interstate 10 with express lanes, the West Valley Connector bus system and the improvement to Euclid Avenue.

Ontario has never had as solid a downtown revitalization plan as the one it has now, according to Wapner.

“I like to call the entire project a renaissance,” said Wapner, who has been on the council for more than 27 years. “I don’t know how many plans for downtown I’ve seen over the years, but this one is different. It looks like it’s finally going to happen.