Old Town Newhall Gazette, Summer 2008


		THE GAZETTE. Summer 2008 • Year 14, Number 2. Coming Soon: A New Library For Newhall. By CHRIS PRICE City Of Santa Clarita. By the time you read this, the City of Santa Clarita should be in contract negotiations with an award-winning architect to design the new Newhall Library. While plans for the streetscape are being completed, new concepts and ideas will begin to emerge for the replacement of the overtaxed little Newhall Library on 8th Street. So even if you don't see street construction under way or lots of new buildings going up just yet, that doesn't mean nothing is happening in Old Town Newhall! One of the key projects identified in the Downtown Newhall Specific Plan is the New Newhall Library. To quote directly from the plan: "This visually prominent, 2-3 story building is organized around a forecourt at the northerly terminus of the Main Street resulting in a distinguished site for the building while providing additional pedestrian activity viewable from several directions." The architects who are chosen will continue to reference the Specific Plan, meet with members of county library and city staff, work with ad-hoc committees and share their ideas during public participation meetings designed especially to garner input from you. The completion of this library will be a community success. The library will not just be a building full of wonderful books. While this will not be the first library the city has built, it will be the first ground-up, clean-sheet-of-paper design of a next-generation library. This new facility will be capable of serving a much wider audience, will become a new gathering place for residents and visitors, and eventually may serve as an anchor to a much larger commercial development with mixed uses including parking, retail shops, housing, entertainment venues and businesses. The north end of Main Street will help set the standard for all of the public and private development in Old Town Newhall. As you may know from reading The Gazette, over the last two years, staff has been working with property owners on the west side of old San Fernando Road and Spruce Street north of Lyons Avenue to negotiate purchases of parcels needed to site the new library. This process is necessarily slow because, while staff is motivated to move projects forward for the improvement of Main Street and Newhall in general, we also naturally want the best for the business and property owners who may be impacted by possible relocation to accommodate new development. As of the date of this writing, the city's Redevelopment Agency has not once exercised its power of eminent domain. The much-preferred method of direct negotiation has resulted in satisfied sellers and business owners, with only the lawyers disappointed with the lack of court cases. The city is currently negotiating with the owner of the final parcel necessary to secure the entire site. As you also may have read in The Gazette, the street name changes planned for Newhall have all been made legal. The City Council approved the change of San Fernando Road to "Newhall Avenue" from State Route 14 to 5th Street, and extended the name "Railroad Avenue" north from 11th Street all the way to Magic Mountain Parkway. By the time you read this, all of the signs in the city should have been changed accordingly, and those on State Route 14 will not be far behind. The design for the streetscape project is also near completion. The current budget calls for the block of Main Street between 6th and Market streets to be constructed first, with future phases to follow. City staff will be working with the business owners about how best to approach construction for the least amount of impact. ©2008, Old Town Newhall USA. All rights reserved.

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