THE NEW OLD ARMENIAN TOWN
by John Ellis, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

The Fresno Bee (California)
July 27, 2007 Friday

Jul. 27–Hoisted by hydraulic lifts high above Ventura Avenue,
workers this week were busy putting the finishing touches on the new
5th District Court of Appeal building.

Sometime next month, the new building will be complete — a day
that will mark a big step forward in one of downtown Fresno’s major
redevelopment projects.

The 62,000-square-foot, $24 million appellate court will be the first
building in what planners have dubbed Old Armenian Town.

But critics have long felt that the ambitious project will wipe out
some of the last vestiges of a once-thriving Armenian neighborhood.

Highway 41 long ago cut through the heart of the old ethnic enclave,
which was roughly bounded by Inyo, O and Los Angeles streets and
Broadway.

The redevelopment project encompasses only a small part — an area
bounded by O and M streets, Ventura Avenue and Highway 41 — of the
historic Armenian town.

Among other concerns is the fate of five houses that preservationists
say give a glimpse of how early Armenian immigrants lived. The homes
sit deteriorating behind a chain-link fence at N Street and Santa
Clara Street.

They are nearly all that remains of a neighborhood where Armenian
immigrants settled beginning in the 1880s. Selland Arena and the
city’s convention center, among other buildings, have taken the place
of homes and businesses described by author William Saroyan.

The chipping-away of the old ethnic community is one reason
preservationists are fighting so hard to save the houses, and why,
they say, they battled to keep the former Armenian Evangelical Church
standing.

The church met the wrecking ball in 2003, with only its facade saved
and stored away.

A recent lawsuit by preservationists thwarted an effort to move
the houses south of Highway 41 to an industrial zone, said local
preservationist Jeanette Jurkovich. A ruling in their favor is
on appeal.

Originally, Jurkovich said, plans called for putting the houses at
Santa Clara and M streets, where the soon-to-be-razed Fresno Fire
Department headquarters now stands. But redevelopment plans now
propose a parking lot first, then a parking garage, on that site.

Preservationists drew up an alternative proposal to put the houses,
along with the Armenian church’s facade, at Ventura and M. They’ve
heard nothing from city officials or the developers, Jurkovich said.

She’s not sure where the houses will eventually be relocated, but
"putting them down in the industrial area is not going to save them."

Businesses in the Old Armenian Town redevelopment area also are
girding for changes. Construction on an office building adjacent to
the courthouse is scheduled to start in December.

Eventually, developers Richard Gunner and George Andros have plans
for three office buildings and two five-story parking garages on the
site — bounded by O and M streets, Ventura Avenue and Highway 41.

There is 700,000 square feet planned for the three buildings, though
the exact size of each building is not yet known, said Dennis Frye,
who represents the two developers on the project.

Leon Santos, director of the St. Joseph Community Center and a
similarly named thrift store a few doors down, said he’s not looking
forward to the changes the redevelopment project will bring.

"I hope it’s not very soon because we’re just getting our feet off
the ground here," he said.

Santos’ organization has Sunday church services and helps the homeless,
ex-convicts and others looking for a new start in life.

Thrift store proceeds go to the community center.

Under the redevelopment plan, the building that houses both of Santos’
operations would be knocked down and replaced by a new Armenian
Community Center.

A block down M Street sits the Valley Lahvosh Baking Co. The business
has operated at M and Santa Clara for 85 years, and the historic
building will be saved and remain open as a bakery.

But the company’s much newer production facilities will be moved.

Agnes Saghatelian Wilson, whose grandfather Gazair Saghatelian started
the business, said a new location for the production facilities has
yet to be found.

"It’s very bittersweet," Wilson said.

"We are growing, but it’s kind of overwhelming, too, to think we have
to pick up and move from a place we’ve been such a long time."

The appellate courthouse is not only Old Armenian Town’s centerpiece,
but its finish is seen as proof that — almost 10 years in the making
— the redevelopment project is reality.

"It represents that it is a real project and also the quality of
the project that [developers] Richard Gunner and George Andros are
building," Frye said

Supporters of the redevelopment project, meanwhile, hope it starts
a renaissance in that part of downtown. One of them is James Ardaiz,
the 5th District Court of Appeal’s presiding justice.

Ardaiz said the new courthouse — which will officially be dedicated
Sept. 13 — should help draw restaurants and coffeehouses to the area.

Just fewer than 100 people will work in the building, which features
two interior courtyards flanking the single courtroom where appeals
will be heard.

As for the rest of the project, Gunner and Andros are marketing
the office space and are in discussions with a large tenant for
the first building, as well as some businesses interested in moving
back downtown.

Ultimately, Frye said, the market will determine the pace of the
project’s development.