IMPROVEMENT PLANS AIM TO REVIVE ADAMS SQUARE.

After being stalled for several years, the Adams Square revitalization project in southern Glendale is finally moving forward.

The City Council late Tuesday awarded a $664,805 contract to Fredrick Towers Inc. of Tujunga, which plans to start work Oct. 15 on a series of streetscape improvements in Adams Square.

Alejandro Valenzuela, treasurer of the Adams Square Merchants Association, which has spent years lobbying for the project, was thrilled.

``We have been waiting for the improvements for quite a while. It has been one hurdle after another,'' said Valenzuela, who owns the Glendale Motor Center. ``Once the ground breaks, it's going to be a domino effect for a bright future.''

Valenzuela said many Adams Square merchants have put off renovating or investing in their businesses as they waited for the city to act.

Improvements slated for Adams Square include landscaped medians, parkways, and signals and other devices designed to control traffic.

The centerpiece of the revitalization project is a 2,000-square-foot plaza on the southwest corner of Adams Street and Chevy Chase Drive, featuring an art deco-style fountain, a large trellis and benches.

Valenzuela believes the project will be a boost for businesses.

``Everyone is really looking forward to see this get off the ground now. It just means a lot more business,'' he said. ``It just reinvigorates you.''

At the same meeting, the council rejected spending $143,000 to build an entry monument at Colorado and Lincoln streets, a project that has been in the works for the past three years.

The project would have featured a 10-foot-tall concrete monument with granite plaques featuring the city's sign and emblem.

Councilman Bob Yousefian said he voted against the project because he felt it was too costly and constituted an inappropriate use of community development block grants, which are intended to benefit low-income residents.