Fremont’s Downtown is on the rise, and the City is keeping the momentum going with its most recent event — the “Downtown on the Rise Demolition Celebration,” which took place yesterday morning.

City Manager Diaz kicking off the morning celebration at 9 am.

We invited members of the community and press to witness the demolition of a three-story building, making way for the continued development and expansion of Capitol Avenue.

As announced in July, Capitol Avenue will be extended from State Street to Fremont Boulevard, connecting Downtown Fremont’s retail district between The Fremont Hub and Gateway Plaza.

Kicking off the event was City Manager Fred Diaz, who referred to this event as Fremont awakening the sleeping dragon:

“Last month, there was a terrific piece that ran on KQED about our plans to build a Downtown. It talked about Fremont being a ‘sleeping dragon.’ Well, not anymore. With the City’s two main initiatives underway that include Downtown Fremont and the Warm Springs Innovation District, the demolition of this building represents the awakening of the dragon.”

Following an introduction by City Manager Diaz, Mayor Harrison discussed the implementation of Fremont’s Downtown Community Plan, the process of bringing the City’s vision of a “strategically urban” Downtown to life, and what it has taken to get to this point.

“While the path to getting here today was certainly not an easy ride, it was well worth our perseverance. Earlier this year in April, we acquired this building and worked diligently with the tenants to relocate them to new business locations throughout town.”

 

Many gathered to witness the demo, headed up by Top Grade Construction and subcontractor FERMA Corporation.

 

Stay tuned as Fremont’s Downtown begins to be realized through additional construction efforts on the expansion of Capitol Avenue, slated to be completed in March 2015.