The $10.5 million renovation project at Santa Anita Fashion Park has begun, with a formal ground-breaking ceremony to be held January 26. The project is expected to last 10 months.
As the first stage of what the owners hope will be a 2-part improvement of Arcadia's Santa Anita Fashion Park, the 12-year-old shopping center has announced it will soon begin a $10.5 million interior and exterior remodeling.
The new Robinson's department store at Fashion Park will be larger than originally envisioned. The proposed enlarged facility has been submitted to the City Council and approved.
Fashion Park is more than a center of business activity. It sponsors various special events such as the Community Health Fair designed to entertain, educate and assist residents. The mall's sales and property taxes constitute a large portion of the city's revenues.
Plans to add a Nordstrom Department Store to Santa Anita Fashion Park received a set-back when the Arcadia Planning Commission voted down a request to reduce the required number of parking spaces at regional shopping centers.
Two Federal judges have declined to grant a request for an injunction blocking further construction on Fashion Park. The request had been made by PLAN (People Looking Ahead Now).
Arcadia's new senior center will be built at the Rose Garden at the corners of Huntington and Campus Drives. The city will start taking bids for the proposed $2.5 million, 18,000-square foot building in April. (At least 21% of the city population is over age 60.)
The City Council was decidedly disappointed at the low tax evaluation put on Fashion Park this year. The county says that the land will be re-assessed upward each year as its business and development is expanded.
A bomb scare at the J. C. Penney Co. store in Santa Anita Fashion Park mall led to the closing of about ten stores and the evacuation of more than 100 customers and employees.
There has been some hassle over the lack of restroom facilities at Fashion Park. The City Council would like to see 2 restrooms on each level open at all times. Stores make their restrooms available, but some events take place when the stores are closed.