Manteca’s civic buildings for years could best be described politely as utilitarian.Functional - for the most part - but bland in design.That ended with the opening of the eye-catching modernistic design of the animal shelter that opened last year.Now the city is stepping up its game even more.The City Council on Tuesday gave the final blessing to what has been described as the future “icon” for downtown Manteca - the $6.9 million transit station that has been more than 15 years in the making. The 7,000-quare-foot building breaking ground this year is more than just a transit station. It includes:• a large community room that can be divided in two for use for dinners, receptions, and other events complete with a kitchen facility.• an expansive outdoor plaza designed to accommodate events such as an outdoors farmers market.• a large clock tower visible in all directions.Architect Eric Wohle of LDA Partners described the station’s design with its extensive use of brick, varied elevations of cast stone, window arches, and a steel canopy entrance for the plaza as embracing a “grand central” theme.