For those Halloween fans out there, I regret to say that I’ve been doing some traveling over the last couple of weeks, which limited my weekly walks throughout the city. Thus, although I did spend a good part of Wednesday checking up on a number of things throughout Redwood City, I wasn’t able to explore the city’s residential areas as I often do this time of year, looking for particularly noteworthy decorated houses. Fortunately, the city, for the fifth time in a row, held its annual Haunt Your Home contest, which this year had 30 entrants. The best of the best in Redwood City is likely to be found among those 30, which the city has conveniently plotted on a Google map (the actual home addresses are listed there as well), so spend some time one of these upcoming evenings and check them out. As I write this the winners have yet to be announced, but by the time you read this, they should have been. See the contest web page for the results and a video showing not only the winners but many of the other entrants (that video may take a while to get posted). And on the day — next Thursday — have a happy Halloween! Finally, a week from Sunday — November 3 — Casa Círculo Cultural and the San Mateo County History Museum, in collaboration with the Redwood City Parks & Arts Foundation, will be holding their Día de los Muertos celebration in Courthouse Square. That event will run from 3:30 – 8 p.m., with the welcome speech and procession occurring at 6 p.m. This event is always a great one, with a variety of activities, food, and entertainment. Put it on your calendar, and do check it out.

This week I paid my regular visit to the former site of the Century Park 12 Theatres, at 557 E. Bayshore Rd. Demolition continues; when I was there on Wednesday only two domes were left, and when I drove by earlier today (Friday) they were down to just one.

While walking from the theater site out to Whipple Avenue, so that I could get a view of the demolition activity from the rear, I noticed some sort of remodeling activity going on in one of the former Toyota 101 buildings (Toyota 101 has largely moved directly across Highway 101, to Convention Way, but they still seem to be doing some repair work within the old shop buildings between the Alan Steel & Supply property and Boardwalk Chevrolet). This building is the one being remodeled:

While I couldn’t tell exactly what was going on simply by peeking into the open doorway — the work had just gotten started — I later checked for building permits and learned that the building is being transformed into an “iPet Hotel.” A bit of internet searching led me to guess that it may be a second branch of IPet Grooming & Boarding, which is currently operating in Dublin, CA. As you might expect from the name, they groom and board cats and dogs. Competition for Wag Hotel, perhaps?

Once I made my way back to the west side of the freeway I spent a bit of time wandering through downtown. The Taube Family Carriage House & Automobile Museum, on the corner of Marshall Street and Middlefield Road, seems to be making great strides:

And as I walked down Theatre Way (i.e., Middlefield Road) I noticed activity inside the empty retail space adjacent to Das Bierhauz, at the corner of Theatre Way and Winslow Street. This place:

As you may recall, for a time this space was home to Mobius Fitness (which prior to that had been located on Woodside Road). Mobius Fitness’ parent company closed their Redwood City fitness center some time ago, and the space has been empty since then. But when I peered inside, although I saw no signs indicating exactly what the new tenant will be, from the activity I observed it appears that this space will once house a gym/fitness center of some sort. So for anyone who worked out at Mobius and found this location convenient, keep an eye on it; soon you just may be able to do your workouts there once again.

While on Theatre Way, I noted that the city is installing a set of moveable bollards on the Broadway end that will match those on the Winslow Street end:

I guess those things are working well! Don’t be surprised to see them get installed elsewhere (like, perhaps, on the closed section of Broadway). They are certainly much nicer looking than the orange plastic barriers and temporary plastic posts being used at other closed-off intersections.

As I regularly do, I wandered through the ELCO Yards project this week. There is always something new going on there! This week, two of the project’s three tower cranes were coming down, indicating that the buildings they were serving are getting close to wrapping up. By Wednesday, when I went by, the tower crane that was being used to construct the building out along El Camino Real had already been removed — presumably while I was out of town — and the one being used to construct the two buildings between Main Street and the Caltrain tracks was in the process of coming down. When I got there, that crane’s boom had already been lowered to the ground and loaded on flatbed trucks, and the crew was working on the control cab and the winch that raised and lowered loads via a long steel cable.

Here is a picture of the heavy-duty winch, separated from the main platform by a moveable crane, being lowered, ultimately to be put on yet another waiting flatbed truck:

I assume that the project’s third tower crane will remain for a bit longer; the building it is being used to construct isn’t quite as far along as these other three are. While it is looking good, it still needs to have its windows installed (at least):

This building sits adjacent to Lathrop Street (the one blocked by the white truck in the above photograph). That street has been closed for a year or two now, since it runs right through the middle of this project. But now the curbs have been re-formed, and it looks ready for asphalt (which may not be added for a while yet, since heavy equipment continues to make use of the street):

Elsewhere on the project, I was pleased to see that the steel framing for the restaurant building that will stand near the corner of Chestnut and Main streets is starting to go up:

As you may recall, this building should look something like the old “Perry’s Feeds” shed that once stood on this spot.

Heading out towards Woodside Road and the various projects underway along that street, I passed by the old Bed, Bath & Beyond space that is becoming an AutoZone (which I’m convinced will be going from their current location at 901 El Camino Real, to make way for the office project planned for that site). The interior is looking good, although empty:

Along Woodside Road itself, the new McDonald’s restaurant has had its two-lane drive-thru and parking areas paved:

Surely we’ll be hearing “do you want fries with that?” quite soon, now.

That did it for my walk this week. But there are a couple of city activities that I want to highlight. First, Redwood City is considering amendments to its smoking ordinances that could potentially eliminate smoking in certain public spaces. But before any action is taken, the city wants to hear from the public. They’ve put together a short survey that gives you some idea of what they have in mind, and allows you to express your feelings. Take the brief survey here.

Next, this is a reminder that the Zoppé Italian Family Circus will soon be in town (starting November 1), at their usual spot in the library parking lot at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Middlefield Road. Advance tickets are now on sale (you can also purchase them at the “door”). See the city’s website for a description of the circus, show dates and times, and tickets.

Lastly, the large office project planned for the former Wells Fargo Bank site at Broadway and Main Street and the associated affordable housing project planned for 847 Woodside Rd. are going before the Redwood City Council next Monday, October 28 (beginning at 6 p.m.). Those interested will want to watch the meeting and/or express their opinions. As always, you can do so by sending an email to the city in advance of the meeting, or by attending the meeting and speaking in person (those watching remotely will not be able to comment during the meeting). And of course if you just want to watch, you can always do so after the fact, since City Council and Planning Commission meetings are recorded. For a link to watch the meeting live or after the fact, and for a copy of the meeting agenda and any supporting documents, head to the City Council Meetings, Agendas, and Minutes web page.