It will be clear by sunrise Saturday where downtown starts — at least as you drive north on Main Street from the 120 Bypass.
That’s when the “Manteca” sign is expected to have been placed atop the 80-foot arch installed on South Main Street near the animal shelter between Wetmore Street and Moffat Boulevard.
The arch, that uses LED lighting, is programmed with various colors for the background of the sign as well as sections on the support pillars.
The definitive boundaries of downtown have been a moving target for at least four decades depending on who you talked to or what area city councils have designated for what seems to be never ending studies on what to do with the central district.
The official ribbon cutting for the arch is set for Thursday, June 18, at 5 p.m., an hour before the start of the monthly Music on Maple event staged by the Manteca Recreation & Community Services.
The Downtown Manteca District former a year ago hopes to have some large colorful planters with flowers in place near the arch by then, according to board member Eddie Torres.
The private sector group formed top boost the economic activity and appeal of an area carved out of downtown with some 50 businesses plans to also beautify the western entrance to downtown on Yosemite Avenue with planters as well.
Torres noted both entrances, given they involve railroad crossings, can use sprucing up.
The arch location reflects the southern entrance to downtown as defined by the area the city has commissioned a $980,000 holistic plan including a blanket environmental document to guide the future development of the central district.
Ascend, the firm contracted to do the work, is expected to start conducting workshops before the end of summer.
Oak Street south of — and running parallel to the railroad tracks — is officially part of downtown as is South Main Street to a point several 100 feet south as Wetmore Street.
It may not be seen that way to the public, but the location of the arch is roughly the closest you can get to the official southern boundary of the downtown district and still be within it.
The plan assumes that eventually Oak Street, as Manteca grows and downtown evolves, will see changes in existing uses that is now mostly old-school warehouses, a former Kraft cheese making plant, and the area’s first winery.
Manteca leaders committed its remaining $318,484 in federal COVID relief funds to the arch project to avoid having to return the money to the federal government by the end of 2025.
The balance of the $620,447 project is coming from undesignated general fund reserves. The actual sign is $550,000 with $70,477 set aside for contingencies.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
