Published in the April 1-14, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Cheri Devlin
Notice any changes downtown recently? The lane reduction pilot is beginning its third month, traffic is calming in parts of the downtown, outdoor dining is at an all-time enjoyable high, and bike lanes are being used by more novice cyclists, including juniors who are enjoying the safe lane in which to ride. And if you’ve ventured down Third or Fourth streets, you likely noticed the parking garage construction is underway. The parking garage plans include a three-story, 273-space parking structure located mid-block on Third Street, with new retail/commercial space fronting Third Street, and home to two public art displays — one of which has stirred up a little controversy.
Crawling up the Fourth Street garage entrance will be a giant spider composed of hundreds of vintage automobile headlights that many of you may have heard resembled a black widow. I’m happy to report, the design concept has since evolved and will actually look like a tarantula — something Morgan Hill is familiar with.
The second art work, also designed by Napa-based artist Gordon Huether, will showcase poppy jasper. Facing the Third Street Plaza, vibrant colors resembling the unique gemstone will provide a semi-transparent cover to the structure’s stairwell, while promoting a strong identity to the entire community.
With plans to be ready for the holidays, Huntington Station will remain open throughout the construction, so be sure to stop in for a beverage and a bite to eat after you’ve taken a peek at the progress being made on the garage. This time next year, finding a parking spot Friday night won’t be any trouble.
Throughout the transformation of downtown, the Morgan Hill Downtown Association will continue to find ways to promote downtown businesses giving residents and visitors a reason to meet. Even though it will still be a number of months before you can tell your friends to meet you at the spider, you can make plans to visit the newest program to activate Sundays in downtown — the Indie Market — a monthly street market for local, independent crafters, artisans and home based businesses. The Market will aim to promote, engage and empower local home based businesses to grow in their own community. At the same time, it should increase foot traffic on Sundays to boost sales of the brick and mortar businesses that make downtown Morgan Hill so charming.
“The vision for this market is to empower small, home-based business owners to grow their presence in their local community,” said Nancy Reynolds, Indie Market Committee Chair and co-owner of The Candy Parlour. “We hope that having a blended offering of hand-crafters, artisans and well know branded direct sales vendors, such as Tupperware, will provide a valuable and fun market for the South County community.”
Between the hours of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the last Sunday of each month through July 26, vendors will line Monterey Road from Main to Fifth streets, in the west side parking spaces. Vendors realize consistency is necessary, so if you find something you wish you had bought more of, rest assured you can find that same great product the following month. For more information about the Indie Market or other upcoming events downtown, visit morganhilldowntown.org.
Cheri Devlin is a Morgan Hill resident and president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association Board of Directors.
