The Town Center Mall is not the only part of Sunnyvale's downtown area that will be receiving a facelift in the next few years.

On Nov. 22, the Sunnyvale City Council approved a new design plan for S. Murphy Avenue that could revitalize the area, draw visitors in and preserve the historic street.

The design calls for a two-part process, the first to revamp the streetscape and visual appeal of the area, and the second to change the parking lots east and west of the street and encourage pedestrian flow between shops and restaurants.

More important, the new design would allow the street to offer similar visual appeal and uses as the new mall, perhaps keeping the small merchants alive in the face of the new development.

"This needs to be done by the time the mall opens," Il Postale owner Joe Antuzzi told the council. "If the mall opens and Murphy Street looks like it does today, then [Murphy Street] is done."

The first phase will cost between $3 million and $4 million. The city hopes to fund that phase with a $3 million Metropolitan Transportation Commission grant. The city currently has just under $1 million set aside for a project such as this, but city staff and the Downtown Association want to wait a year to see if they can get the grant. If they are able to match the grant with at least one third of the money, Planning Officer Trudi Ryan said the city has a better chance of winning the grant.

Councilwoman Julia Miller did not want the city to wait. She wanted the staff to look at ways to expedite the grant process--which it has no control over--or use some of the money set aside to begin work. She said she was doing it to help the merchants, even though the merchants themselves said they wanted to wait.

"The $1 million would not make an impact in the short run, and the work would be fragmented," Sunnyvale Downtown Association Executive Director Mike Johnson said. "That's not going to benefit any of the businesses down there."

Part of the first phase would place new benches, planter boxes and other items along the street to give it an updated look. The city will work with shop owners to remove any existing streetscape amenities before demolition or construction begins.

According to Johnson, the plan is to redo S. Murphy Avenue so it can be opened up to car traffic, closed off for street fairs and other functions, and generally remain flexible.

There is also a $200,000 signage project to show people that Murphy is alive and kicking. The designers of the project have already spoken to the Forum Development Group--who is handling the mall development--and worked out a plan to make the designs of both areas flow together.

The second phase is a $7 million parking lot project. Funding has not been identified yet, but Johnson said that the Downtown Association hopes that funding will become available as the economy turns around in coming years.

"I think we're at a crossroad, we've got opportunities in front of us, but there will be obstacles, and we just need to take them one at a time," said Johnson.