Welcome to the Main Street Pedestrian Mall. There is something truly magical about pedestrian spaces. They take streets built for the roar of traffic and reclaim them entirely for people, transforming cold asphalt into a massive, open air living room for the community.
This particular space was born out of pure local pride. Back in the late nineteen fifties, Riverside leaders initially hired a massive Los Angeles firm to design this mall. Well, local architect Herman Ruhnau was not having it. Frustrated that outsiders kept scooping up the city's best civic projects, he set out to prove Riverside had its own fierce architectural ambition. Ruhnau took over the project in nineteen sixty three, teaming up with renowned landscape architect Garrett Eckbo to craft a bold new vision defined by a sleek, mid-century modern aesthetic.
When it opened in nineteen sixty six, it completely reimagined what used to be a crowded shopping street filled with department stores like Sears and Montgomery Ward. But holding onto the vitality of this space has been an absolute battle. When shoppers fled to suburban malls in the nineteen seventies, the city fought back, building a massive new City Hall and a Convention Center at either end just to keep the downtown anchored.
Then came the intense drama of two thousand eight. The city launched a ten million dollar renovation that deeply angered historical preservationists. Why? Because the sweeping modernization completely bulldozed almost all of Ruhnau and Eckbo's original nineteen sixties landscaping. Today, the only major piece of their design left standing is the forty five foot tall clock tower fountain over near the Tenth Street end.
Still, this mall just keeps evolving, shaped by whoever needs it most. In nineteen ninety three, the reopening of the nearby historic Mission Inn hotel sparked a massive cultural revival. More recently, residents began adding engraved padlocks to the Lock in Your Love monument, a collaborative sculpture unveiled in two thousand twenty two. And in two thousand twenty five, when the Mission Inn Museum was evicted from the hotel after a bitter legal dispute, they resiliently packed up and moved right across the street to find a new home on this very mall.
But as the heart of the city, this mall also absorbs its shockwaves. In recent years, a peaceful protest turned terrifying when a driver in a dark SUV plowed through the crowd near University Avenue. It is a stark reminder that this pavement holds the joyous, the controversial, and the heavy moments of this community.
Since this vibrant public square is open twenty four hours a day, it is always here whenever the city needs a place to gather. Let us keep moving, because just a five minute walk away is the Fox Performing Arts Center, where I am going to show you the site of a legendary Hollywood secret.
