Manteca City government is getting back to its roots.

The City Council is expected to authorize purchasing the building housing the former San Joaquin Public Health Department clinic at 124 Sycamore Avenue and the adjoining 20 stall parking lot in downtown Manteca when they meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. during a Zoom meeting.

The building and parking lot are directly across from the original two-story brick City Hall built in 1923 and used until 1978 when the current Civic Center opened on Center Street.

The council agreed in a recent closed session to purchase the property from San Joaquin County for $390,000.

The building was remodeled following a May 2018 fire believed started by a homeless individual for either warmth or cooking when they were sheltering in the covered area near the front door. The health clinic is now renting space on Norman Drive off of Spreckels Avenue where a concentration of health care services has developed.

It could serve as

satellite city hall

City Manager Miranda Lutzow said the building purchase was in response to feedback the city sought from merchants and property owners indicating they wanted a bigger city presence downtown. It also falls in line with Council goals aimed at pumping new life into downtown to elevate its status not only as a retail and service center but as a gathering place for the community.

There is no set plan at the moment for the building but there is a long list of possible uses being mulled that are all designed to make city services more accessible, increase foot traffic in downtown, and generate more community events such as a possible return of a downtown farmers market using the parking lot.

Essentially the building could become a satellite city hall office.

The city could, as an example, place a frontline municipal worker connected remotely with the city’s systems to process things such as utility payments, dog licenses, and other business that represent the bulk of citizen foot traffic at the Civic Center.

People could combine a trip to city hall with excursions to the post office that is a quarter of a block away or the library which is a half a block away.

That could help lead to more opportunities for current and future businesses to snag casual foot traffic and even bolster the city’s fledgling nearby food truck court program.

But the potential use of the building is not just seen as a convenience center of sorts for residents and businesses conducting routine city business.

*It could be used by the Manteca Police to have a bike patrol work out of while operating in the central district.

*Space could be made for council members to meet one-on-one with constituents.

*A visitors’ center could be established and possibly staffed on a contractual basis with an organization such as the Manteca Chamber of Commerce.

*The building — and the adjoining parking lot — could be used to program and oversee community events.

Visitors’ center, weekly

farmers markets are

among the possibilities

“The parking lot could be used for a downtown farmers’ market,” Lutzow noted.

Establishing a visitors’ center is among the city’s goals to take advantage of increased tourism that will come with the opening March 22 of the Great Wolf indoor waterpark resort.

Lutzow noted that while the city needs an established endeavor to promote more tourism spending that is not the city’s forte or primary mission.

By having a center there with its operation contracted the city would be able to keep its costs to a minimum.

Lutzow stressed the approach the city is taking with the downtown opportunity is to make it as effective as possible and keeping costs low.

Lutzow noted Deputy City Manager Toni Lundgren is working hard at developing events in downtown to take advantage of investments made in recent years to turn Library Park and the Transit Center into community gathering places.

The city — excluding streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and the Tidewater Bikeway — is the largest property owner in downtown. Besides Library Park that was renovated and expanded a decade ago with the ultimate goal of making it the de facto town square and the transit center, the city also has owns the library and tennis courts.

It represents the city’s first significant investment besides paving several alleys and a parking lot in downtown in a decade.

The location puts it smack dab in the middle of annual events such as the Crossroads Street Fair and the Manteca Pumpkin Fair.

A greater downtown presence for the city may also help better address homeless issues. Library Park is a half a block away and Wilson Park where homeless often gather is just down the block.

It also addresses the rationale behind a major push in recent years by Mayor Ben Cantu and other council members to relocate city hall downtown. The thinking is such a move would make municipal government more accessible and give businesses the opportunity to harness foot traffic from city residents who conduct business often on a monthly basis in-person at the Civic Center.

The satellite approach avoids a massive investment that could easily top $30 million to relocate city hall requiring the buying and demolition of viable space for businesses.

City rethinking how

they conduct business

Manteca is still proceeding with a space needs study for City Hall with the goal of remodeling and expanding on the current campus at 1001 West Center St.

One goal of that endeavor is to create a “one-stop” approach with a grand lobby off the main parking lot where citizens can walk up to various windows and access virtually every department much like the Lathrop City Hall.

Currently public access points for various departments are scattered throughout the campus.

Assistant City Manager Lisa Blackmon noted the pandemic has provided an opportunity to rethink how a number of municipal services are delivered.

She noted that could involve everything from a hybrid approach for some employees to work from home part of the time to satellite endeavors such as the one planed for downtown.

In the realm of possibilities in the future could be a satellite city hall as well as The Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley where the city has been negotiating to possibly secure space to relocate the library.

“This is a good time for (the city) to rethink how we do business,” Blackmon said.

Funds to buy the property likely could come from growth fees collected for government facilities.

 To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com