College town tries to update its image and retain its village feel.

MORE than six years after city officials determined that its old-fashioned village needed a jolt of life, Claremont has broken ground on a 30-acre commercial and residential redevelopment project.

The primary goal is to address the curious lack of collegiate feel in a community that counts more than 6,000 students at nearby colleges, including Claremont McKenna, Pomona and Harvey Mudd.

"Although this is a college town, it doesn't look like it. There aren't a whole lot of places for students," said Anthony Witt, director of community development at the Claremont Redevelopment Agency.

While the city has already poured $10 million into acquiring property and street improvements for redevelopment, the first large commercial stretch is only now about to clear the entitlement process.

By the end of the month, Claremont expects to approve a 129,000-square-foot mixed-use development plan from the Tolkin Group, a Pasadena-based firm that developed parts of Old Pasadena and Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. If approved, the project, which includes a Laemmle movie theater, a boutique hotel, a restaurant, a specialty market, and several stores with second-story lofts, could be under construction by the end of the year.

The city has given the land for the Tolkin project in exchange for an equity stake--a move that hasn't been embraced by everyone.

"The public would rather see this happen as a private venture rather than have the city doing it," said Dr. Eric Weigand, owner of the Claremont Veterinary Hospital. Weigand and the city haggled for five years to come to terms on its acquisition of his 123 N. Indian Hill Blvd. property; in January the city agreed to pay $930,000 for his building, land and moving expenses.

Already underway is the first residential phase of the redevelopment, a 103-unit townhouse and apartment complex on six acres bounded by Cornell Avenue to the east and the Metrolink tracks to the south. Its initial section is scheduled to open early next year.

Developer Olson Co. purchased the site from the city for $4.3 million, and the city will use state and federal grants to fund the parking lot.

Citrus roots

Nestled against the San Bernardino County line at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, Claremont began as a college town when Pomona College was established in 1887.

Others followed, while the colleges grew, so did the local citrus industry, which flourished until the 1950s. The Claremont Fruit Growers Association was one of several dozen regional citrus growing groups that formed the Southern California Fruit Exchange, now known as Sunkist Growers, in the late 19th century.

Suburban sprawl started to push out the citrus groves after the end of the Second World War, and the Metrolink rail station, built in 1993 and connecting Claremont to downtown Los Angeles, has made it more of a commuter town.

The five colleges blend their campuses together over several blocks of tree-lined streets named after Ivy League schools. But while Pomona and Claremont McKenna are just a short walk away from the village, students for the most part have not congregated there over the years.

Most of the retailers in the village are small regional chains or independently owned shops. Many, like the Harvard Square Cafe and Walter's Restaurant, have been there for decades. There's an old-fashioned barbershop, a pharmacy and a Rhino Records store.

Most of the 6,000 students at the colleges live on the combined 350 acres of campus area. When students do go off campus, the popular choices traditionally have been restaurants and bars in nearby Upland.

"The colleges do everything they can to keep students on campus. We want a sports bar or a place that has music that is attractive to students," said Witt.

In an effort to meld its commuter and student communities, the redevelopment agency has approached nearby colleges about moving their shared academic bookstore into the new commercial development on the corner of Indian Hill Boulevard and Second Street. "That bookstore could be so much more. It could tie things together," said Witt.