PD Editorial: On the square

<p>So downtown Santa Rosa's much-needed make-over will begin with an eyesore — a 99,800-square-foot eyesore near Courthouse Square known as the AT&T building. We can think of no better place to start.</p><p>Local developers Hugh Futrell and Bill Carle last week got the initial green light to transform that windowless monolith into a complex of light and glass, of apartments and offices and of promise and vibrancy for a downtown that has seen its share of recent setbacks.</p><p>The glimmering design may change, but this concept — selected as the best of five proposals — shouldn't, although it still must go through the planning review process.</p><p>The project, called Museum on the Square, calls for a mix of offices and residences for most of the 10-story complex. The ground floor would house part of the Sonoma County Museum as well as an upscale restaurant.</p><p>The Santa Rosa Redevelopment Agency approved the contract on Friday, quickly and enthusiastically.</p><p>This project would benefit the community in multiple ways. It would transform a massive, barren downtown building into something inviting, visually attractive and occupied. It would provide more living units for downtown and create more pedestrian traffic for the Courthouse Square area — both longtime city objectives. It also would provide space for the Sonoma County Museum, which has been looking to expand from its present location at the old Post Office building on Seventh Street. The museum plans to keep its existing location for its historic exhibits.</p><p>Most important, the Museum on the Square has the potential to focus more attention and interest on Santa Rosa's business/shopping core and encouraging similar mixed-use projects.</p><p>Downtown could use the boost given the collapse of the latest plans to build on the former White House site on Third Street, the closure or relocation of several businesses in recent years and other setbacks.</p><p>This project also has a better-than-even chance of getting the development funding it needs because it is a redevelopment project rather than a new development, the city is a partner and some tenants are already lined up. TLCD Architecture has agreed to occupy one of the four office-space floors while Metier Ltd. has agreed to take at least one other.</p><p>City officials have taken their share of criticism for spending $3 million to buy the building just as the real estate market and the economy was starting to unravel in March 2007.</p><p>But it's worth noting again that the money came from redevelopment funds, not the general fund. And it's our guess that if the Museum on the Square project pans out as promised, it will generate far more light for the city than heat.</p>