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Metropolis building rehabilitated and repurposed as downtown event hub
Summary
Speakers recounted the Metropolis building's earthquake damage and city-led rehabilitation, saying it now houses markets and opens onto Plaza Park, hosting music nights and community events that draw crowds downtown.
A Committee member recounted the Metropolis building's history—built as Association Hall in the 1890s, damaged in the 1993 earthquake and later taken by the city for rehabilitation—and described its conversion into a marketplace that opens onto the plaza. "Took it down to the bones and and brought it back up, sold it to a private developer with the idea that it would be like a, you know, marketplace and attract a bunch of different businesses," the Committee member said.
Speakers said Urban Renewal financing made the project feasible and that the Metropolis now hosts Friday-night music, paint classes and other events that animate downtown. The segment emphasized the building’s role as a cultural and economic centerpiece, including a roll-up door that connects indoor activity to the Plaza Park events.
