Former bar demolished as high-speed rail construction begins in Fresno
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- One of the biggest projects in state history is now underway in Central Fresno. Crews with the High-Speed Rail Authority began demolishing the "Annie's Hollywood Inn" bar on Monday. It's on Golden State near Pine. The work will make way for the first phase of the multi-billion dollar project.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation gave its approval for the state to acquire land between Fresno and Bakersfield. And Monday morning, crews began demolishing the first of five buildings in the area.
Central Fresno native Norman Cooper looked on as the local contractor for the 29-mile Fresno-to-Madera route carried out the first demolition of a building to make room for high-speed rail.
"Well, I'm enjoying it. I'm glad to see it go," said Cooper.
The building was a former bar called the Annie's Hollywood Inn, which sat vacant for years. Before its closure, Cooper says the neighborhood became plagued with problems.
"Prostitution, dope usage and killings going on," he said.
Now, he says he's glad to see it be put to better use.
"Back in the '40s this used to be a flourishing area, but now it's a dump," said Cooper. "When they spoke about the high-speed rail coming through and I see this, I know it's becoming a reality, so I came to get the first shot of it."
Central Valley Regional Director for the High-Speed Rail Authority Diana Gomez says the structure is the first in a series scheduled to be demolished over the next few days.
"This week there will be a total of five, several residences and a couple of businesses," she said.
That will include a former video rental shop on East Belmont Avenue and three homes on McKinley.
"This right here is creating quite a few jobs and also as part of our small business program, the company the contractor hired is woman-owned, small business, J. Kroeker Inc., so everyone here on the project is from here locally," said Gomez.
She says the High-Speed Rail Authority has acquired a third of about 150 parcels required to complete the first phase of the project.
"We've already started construction up in the Fresno River bridge, we're doing the first test pile. Once we get that data then we can actually start construction of the piles for the viaduct, and this is part of the construction, demolition, but in terms of things being built up, probably in the next couple of months you'll start seeing some of that," said Gomez.
Work it's hoping to complete by early 2018 -- changing the landscape of Central Fresno and eventually the future of transportation in California.
"You're going to go to Los Angeles, you're going to be driving your car three or four hours, whereas you're on the high-speed rail and you're there in an hour or so. So, it's going to be real good to see that come in," said Cooper.
The project doesn't come without controversy. Several Fresno County supervisors began preparing for a meeting on Tuesday to consider withdrawing their support for high-speed rail.
"I think it's a good discussion to have because the resolution includes lots of promises that were made to the voters back in 2008," said Fresno County Supervisor Debbie Poochigian.
Poochigian says she's already drafted a resolution in the event the board changes its position. At issue, she says, is the price of the project and whether current plans follow what voters approved.
"The project originally was scheduled to be $33 billion, they're up to $68 billion," said Poochigian. "They promised a $50 fair from San Francisco to Los Angeles; I don't think they're going to come anywhere near that."
And, she says, the High-Speed Rail Authority promised to deliver a 2 hour and 40 minute trip -- now slowed by changing infrastructure.
But Supervisor Henry Perea questions her timing -- having just returned from Washington, D.C., where he pitched Fresno as the hub for a high-speed rail maintenance facility.
"You know that type of designation really sets the stage for, in this case, Fresno County becoming the national testing center and training center for high-speed rail trains, which at the end of the day means jobs," said Perea.
Nearly 1,500 of them, he says, in a place already struggling with double-digit unemployment.
Perea claims changing the county's support for the project this late in the game would be purely symbolic -- now that more than $50 million in contracts with Valley companies are already at work.
