Renovation Plans for Grand Central Hailed

City Council chambers were decorated with dozens of balloons this week as officials celebrated plans to renovate the vacant Grand Central Building, a key part of the fledgling Artists Village.

By a vote of 5 to 2 Monday, the council agreed to spend up to $4.6 million on the former downtown apartment building at Broadway and 2nd streets.

Officials expect the building to join the restored Santora Building next door as a centerpiece of the Artists Village.

The privately run Santora Building, at 207 N. Broadway, is home to about 38 artist tenants and is 95% occupied, according to the building’s property manager.

City officials have been backing the Artists Village through zoning and other measures to help revitalize the downtown and improve the city’s image.

The Grand Central work is expected to be completed by June 1998.

The city will then rent the building to Cal State Fullerton for $1 a year for 10 years.

The university plans to operate the building for student artists. The plans include classrooms, a theater and a restaurant.

Councilmen Ted R. Moreno and Tony Espinoza, who believe city money should be used for street and park improvements, opposed the renovation agreement.

“We’re not getting our return back on our money,” said Moreno, who added that the city received only $4,886 in sales tax and business license fees in 1996 from the Santora and other nearby galleries.

But the majority of council members praised the Artists Village and Grand Central projects as a way to boost the city’s long-term economy and provide new opportunities for residents countywide.

“You have to make investments in that human infrastructure,” Mayor Miguel A. Pulido Jr. said.