Community gathers for historic Fulton Street grand reopening

The Fulton District has been re-opened to a street for the first time in over 50 years, Oct. 21. To celebrate this grand re-opening, the City of Fresno hosted the Fulton Street Party. The event started off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Mayor Lee Brand and former Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearingen. Preceding that, a parade of city dignitaries and classic cars started off the celebrations. Live music, local vendors and the smell fresh street food and classic cars gave the feel of an old-fashioned street party.

Fulton Mall was first opened in 1964 as one of America’s first pedestrian malls. Local city officials and businesses had hopes were high for Fulton. However, with the gradual northern movement of the City of Fresno, the mall began to lose its flare. By the late 1980s, many of the mall’s large stores moved to locations in northern Fresno as most notably Gottschalks and other stores moved to new mall locations.

Although the mall was a hub for local sculpture and art, traffic severely diminished over the years. In 2013, the mall received a $15.9M TIGER Grant from the US Department of Transportation to reopen the street to traffic and transform Fulton into a drive-through mall. This groundbreaking change started on March 3, 2016, and was finally completed, Oct. 21, 2017. To celebrate the first step in a new future for Fulton Street, the Fulton Street Party was held on its day of completion.

Morris Martinez, 73, has lived his whole life in Fresno and grew up in the China Town area. Martinez shares his memory of shopping downtown with his mother and views on the Fulton restoration.

“When I was six or seven, my mother used to bring me over here (Fulton Street) to go shopping with her,” Martinez said. “I knew all the stores, Woolworths, J.C. Penney,  J.J. Newberry, I knew all of them. I think that opening the street will be beneficial for Fulton. It will provide better access to all the stores and bring people back to Downtown. I believe it’s something we can be proud of.”

For many of the businesses located on Fulton Street, the construction period was a difficult time. Although traffic to the businesses remained open, customers would have to navigate a maze of fences, tarps, and planks to reach the front doors. With the entry to these mazes often changing weekly as construction progressed, traffic in Fulton came to an almost standstill. While some owners were able to save enough money to remain open, the one and a half year lull was too much for many.

Store Manager at the Goodwill on Fulton Street, Elizabeth Cruz, shares her excitement that the construction is complete. Cruz explains how many of the customers chose to stay away during construction but are now eagerly returning.

“Today and the week prior to this event (Fulton Street Party), we’ve seen a growth of people just stopping in,” Cruz said. “Once the actual road was completed on one side, we started to see that growth. Today is one of our busiest days as you can see with the crowd that is in here. It’s been a very exciting time to get this going and to be part of this as well. We are hearing from customers that the reason why they were staying away was construction, that this opening of the street is actually going to bring him back to the area. They do want to see more shops, but definitely are going to be back.”

The 2017 Street Fair seems to be a time of bonding with family and friends, celebrating, and engaging with the local community. People from all walks of life came from across Fresno, Clovis and other communities to participate in the celebrations. There was live music, flash mobs, a vintage car show and much more. With the event going for seven hours, there was an abundance of activities for visitors to participate in and the food and music did not stop until after 10 p.m.

One thing that brings people together is food and that is something that was definitely over the top. From southern barbecue to classic Mexican, food trucks and pop up restaurants sent out wafts of delicious air. Aside from the full restaurants, food carts served everything from snow cones to classic Hispanic drinks. Restaurants like Quesadilla Gorilla, Castillo’s Mexican, and Rob’s Bayside Barbecue along with many more came together to bring great food to the celebration.

Robert Hyatt from Rob’s Bayside Barbeque shares how the Fulton Street Party has been for business. Hyatt explains his reason for starting his business and how the event has been great for sales and advertising.

“I was born and raised in Fresno all my life,” Hyatt said. “I actually went to state for six years and worked as an investigator in Downtown Fresno for six years as well. I retired out and we opened Rob’s Bayside Barbecue because I wanted to bring back to the community and give back to the community. I am part of the organization Taste of Fresno which does a lot of big events, including the Street Party itself. Business has been amazing and God has been good here today. We’ve had a lot of people and advertising going on and I look forward to this evening.”

The Fulton Street Party allowed for many in the Downtown Fresno community to come together. With the completion of Fulton’s restoration, local businesses are eager to see their customers return. Many still speculate whether the party and renovations will make a lasting impact. For more information on downtown Fresno revitalization, visit Downtown Fresno Partnership. 

While the impact of the the grand opening of Fulton Street and Fulton District may take months or years to be restored to formal glory, a $22M investment has already been made to restoring the street, sidewalks, trees, fountains and lighting. But if the thousands of locals and visitors to the Oct. 21 event is any indication of interest, downtown Fresno appears to be on the right track.

Feather readers are encouraged to leave a comment in the section below as to their thoughts of downtown revitalization, especially after visiting the Fulton District. Also, return to The Feather Online as staffers are planning a series of articles about downtown Fresno, its people and issues.

For more features read Time Traveler’s days at Civil War Revisited site engages students or Sophomores reflect on Museum of Tolerance trip.

Fulton District opens with Street Party from The Feather Online on Vimeo.

This author can be reached via twitter @Jacob_Avedian and via email: Jacob Avedian.