REDWOOD CITY - Downtown’s brand-new public square in front of the restored 1910 courthouse will host a celebration this weekend that local officials hope will launch a new image for the city: entertainment capital of the Peninsula.

On Sunday, locals will get their first chance to view the full restoration of the historic courthouse’s facade and stroll across the tiled plaza, under the glass-topped pavilions and among the Roman-style vase fountains. The square is almost as big as San Francisco’s Union Square and will provide public dining spots, sun and shade and a place to gather for large-scale public events.

“Throughout Europe, public plazas are the gathering place,” said John Anagnostou, who owns the Fox Theatre and Little Fox, across Broadway from the square. “This one is going to be a magnet and a tourist attraction and draw people from all over - every city will be jealous.”

When the courthouse was first opened, the area outside its front doors was covered by an expansive lawn, according to Mitch Postel, director of the San Mateo County History Museum, which is now housed in the historic building. However, in 1939, county officials, hoping to boost the local post-Depression economy, added the boxy fiscal building in front of the courthouse.

“Instead of biting the bullet and building on another block, they jammed things together,” Postel said.
Since then, the courthouse’s famous dome the biggest stained-glass dome on the West Coast has been hidden.

Demolition of the building began in June 2005 to the protests of very few people.

“At first, folks talked about its historic importance, but the original building has so much more historic importance because it’s so unique,” Postel said.

To complement the restoration of the building and the addition of the new plaza, Anagnostou plans to renovate the Middlefield side of the Fox Theatre site, restoring it to its 1928 “wedding cake” style with Gothic-Moorish details. The plaza is also designed to draw people into the history museum, which opened three new permanent exhibits in July.

Because the transformation of downtown is ongoing -leading up to and after the July 28 opening of the 20-screen cinema - it was tricky to pick a date for the downtown celebration, according to Mayor Barbara Pierce, who hopes locals will have so much fun at Sunday’s event they’ll keep coming back.

“There was no one perfect date to do this,” Pierce said. “We held off to do something that would be a bit more grand and help the community celebrate.”

Redwood City held its first block party near the plaza in September, closing down streets for a Friday-night concert that drew hundreds of people.

“It was a lot of fun to see people having a good time,” said Dan Zack, the city’s downtown development coordinator.

Redwood City’s downtown celebration, “Our Town - Downtown” takes place from noon to 7p.m. Sunday at the corner of Broadway and Middlefield Road.