A $12 million parking structure with four levels is planned for the Sierra Avenue parking lot behind Center Stage Theater in Fontana.
The project will have as many as 350 parking spaces, and serve as public and employee parking for the civic campus and downtown corridor.
City leaders awarded Irvine-based Bomel Construction Co. the design-build contract without discussion Tuesday, June 13.
Set for 8491 Sierra Ave., the parking structure will have a footprint of approximately 130-by-230-feet with two vehicle entrances and exits, according to a staff report prepared for the City Council.
Wheeler Avenue and Lerner Lane will have the entry and exit points.
While not the flashiest project, the parking structure is a key piece of Fontana’s larger plan to revitalize the central part of town.
A mixed-use project with 29 apartments and a restaurant is going up on Nuevo Avenue, and in recent months, the city has purchased several properties along the downtown drag to continue the revitalization effort.
Perhaps the most notable project is the renovation of Center Stage Theater, the 400-seat city-owned venue to which local son Sammy Hager agreed to lend his name and prestige last year.
On the whole, city leaders hope to create a vibrant downtown with myriad entertainment, housing, dining and retail options.
“It’s going to take some time,” Councilmember Peter Garcia said last year, “but we’re building the foundation right now. What I hear a lot in the community when I talk to people is that they want entertainment, they want restaurants, they want a place to spend an evening without having to go out of town, and our downtown area is the prime location to rebuild and to provide that space for our community.”
