Photograph by George Sakkestad
A broken kiddie ride awaits repair in front of the Safeway at Argonaut Center.
By Sarah Lombardo
It was a bumpy ride, but the much-needed renovation of the Argonaut Shopping Center is finally a reality, winning the approval of the Saratoga City Council last week by a vote of 4-1.
The project includes the renovation of the existing center, the expansion of Safeway and the addition of two buildings on both corners of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Blauer Drive. It went through four revisions, a number of conditions-- from undergrounding existing utilities and requiring creekside restoration to building a bus turnout and shelter and replacing medians strips on Blauer Drive--and the ultimate approval of the Planning Commission in early February. But there was more to come; councilmen Paul Jacobs and Stan Bogosian called the project up for council review Feb. 25.
Both Jacobs and Bogosian said they wanted to see the plans for Argonaut to make sure they supported them because, they said, the council would ultimately be held responsible if Saratogans didn't like the result.
The project had the support of residents who live near the Argonaut Shopping Center, many of whom spoke to the council, and of the business community, including Sheila Arthur, executive director of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, who said she thought the plans were in keeping with Saratoga's image.
Dick Wood, a former president of the Chamber and the current chairman of the local business development group Team Saratoga, said the plans were "a long time in coming."
"I do believe on behalf of Team Saratoga that anything we can do to upgrade or improve our properties will certainly enhance the overall quality of our businesses," Wood added.
Bogosian voted to approve the plans, but Jacobs said he couldn't support the project.
"This design to me is just a plain stucco modern shopping center. It's a bland version of Westgate," Jacobs said. "It has no character. It has no identity. Shopping centers like this are being built all over California."
Jacobs also said the Argonaut Shopping Center is prominent enough in the city that it is in a way the city center. And, he said, the plans for Argonaut are not appropriate for a city center.
"I agree that the existing center is badly in need of renovation. There's no doubt about that," he said. "But what we are going to do here is going to be here for a long time. Once it's done, it's done and we have to live with it. . . . I just don't feel that this design is appropriate for a site of this significance."
But Councilman Jim Shaw said: "I've never been accused of having particularly good taste, but I rather like it."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 26, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.