When you wander the pace slows down and you get a new perspective on things. Get out of the car and just wander Downtown Gilroy. Lots of new things are happening and it makes us wonder…the heart of Gilroy, a new Downtown is really happening…
There is a new spirit Downtown. Things are looking up. New URM (Unreinforced Masonry) regulations and a commitment from banks to offer funding for remodeling have put a new spirit into the 28 URM buildings. Some work has already started on the Halls Building on the corner of 6th and Monterey. New sidewalks are sprucing up the area around that same corner. A new parking lot behind the tracks near 6th and Railroad offers more parking. The former Harvest Time will soon become The Milias Restaurant under the leadership of Adam Sanchez. A lease has been signed and work is underway. Look for a grand opening sometime in the spring. Just down the street the Garlic City Cafe is now open for dinner. Downtown wanderers have come to know and love Diego’s culinary skill at breakfast and lunch. Now an evening meal awaits.
Wandering across the street the 9 Lives Club offers live music shows and comedy. George Briones, who also runs the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, knows downtown and is serving up a fantastic entertainment menu. Just up the street at the Gilroy Center for the Arts temporary home Kevin Heath has opened the LimeLight Actors Theater, great fun in an intimate setting. Speaking of the Gilroy Center for the Arts there is always a new exhibit there and a farmers market will soon offer the bounty of the Community Garden.
Working you way back towards the North, the new Amoretto Boutique is open on Eigleberry north of 5th. Great gifts, handbags and jewelry. Sisters Sondra and Hilda have a great fashion sense. Next door a yoga studio, Invoke, offers yoga and palates. Wondering back up Monterey, the Allium Building, the former Garlic Festival Building, has rented out all of its apartments and is now focusing on the retail space. Around the corner on 4th, La Aldea has rent out all its apartments and has several new professional tenants, including the Gilroy Foundation, Out & About, Code Brick (website design) and Incentive Awards.
A wander tidbit compiled by Downtown advocate, Gary Walton: In the area between 6th and 4th, Eigleberry and Railroad there are over 90 businesses and 550 employees!
Happy Downtown Gilroy wanderings…
Coming soon: Downtown Gilroy “Fix It “ Wonderings
