Fulton Mall

It’s the end of an era in downtown Fresno.

After years of hard fought battles over the fate of the Fulton Mall, demolition is underway. Dozens turned out for an official ground breaking on a project to pull out the six-block pedestrian walking mall in downtown Fresno and turn it back into a street.

Music blared and Fresno Fuego fans banged drums to celebrate what many see as a new chapter in the history of downtown Fresno. The vision of supporters is to revive the downtown corridor by opening up the corridor to vehicle traffic.

UPDATED 2/26:

A long-awaited development project near Chukchansi Park has earned the Fresno City Council’s unanimous approval.

The city authorized more than $1 million dollars in public money to enable developers to construct a mixed use commercial-residental building at the corner of Fulton and Inyo streets next to the park.

Council member Oliver Baines, whose district includes the project, urged support for the deal.

Fewer bike racks and trash cans, the elimination of directional signage and fancy lighting are some of the things that city officials say have been cut from the project to tear up and rebuild downtown Fresno's Fulton Mall. 

Administration officials explained to the Fresno City Council Thursday what they had to eliminate in order to reduce the price of the project below a $20 million cap and avoid using general fund dollars

The City of Fresno appears to have cleared a major legal hurdle in its effort to turn the Fulton Mall back into Fulton Street. FM89’s Joe Moore reports.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled in favor of the city in a federal lawsuit brought by Fulton Mall supporters who want want stop the project. Muller also denied the Downtown Fresno Coalition’s request for an injunction on the project, which could clear the way for construction as soon as next month. 

The Fresno City Council has voted 6-1 to accept a construction bid to turn the Fulton Mall back into a street. The vote is a significant, and nearly final step, in the long fight over what to do with the pedestrian walking mall in the middle of downtown Fresno.

The city hall was packed for the vote with many people wearing orange ‘I believe in Downtown Fresno’ tee-shirts appearing to greatly outnumber opponents of the project. Most of the supporters called on the council to remove the mall, which they consider a moribund drag on downtown development.

Fresno leaders are moving forward on plans to award a construction contract for the reconstruction of the Fulton Mall even though is best bid is still more than 2-million dollars over budget.

City staff want the council to select a bid from American Paving for the project despite the fact the company overshot the projects's $20-million target.

Mayor Ashley Swearengin said they are taking the bid to the council anyway and will continue to work to reduce the cost.