Lemon Grove Looks to July for Completion of Main Street Promenade

The Main Street Promenade project, previously expected to be finished this spring, will likely be completed in July.

City Manager Graham Mitchell said one of the challenges crews have faced is navigating around a San Diego Gas & Electric project.

“We can’t control their timeframe,” he said.

The $1.3 million promenade project is part of a larger, $5.1 effort to revamp Lemon Grove’s downtown core.  The project is being funded with grants from the state infill infrastructure program, smart growth initiative dollars awarded by SANDAG, and the city's redevelopment agency monies.

Once completed, the promenade will be a linear park linked to a transit center in the heart of the city, Mitchell said.

“It takes an existing road within the city that was underutilized and creates an urban park,” he said.  “The park is between new housing being built and the transit center.”

The city broke ground on the project in July.  Crews started really moving dirt in September, Mitchell said. 

The park will include a small play area for children and feature three windmills. One windmill, which was built in the late 1800s or early 1900s, gives a nod to the community’s farming roots, he said.  A second windmill is more modern and a third is a futuristic wind spire that provides electricity and has a sustainability element, he said.

The idea is to celebrate the city’s past, present, and future, he added.

The city plans to have an area for a farmer’s market and a small venue for concerts in the park. 

“It really becomes a destination point for the entire community,” he said.