Fresno City leaders say construction could start on the project to turn the Fulton Mall into a street as early as this summer. Opponents of the project say they are not giving up the fight.
The city had expected to break ground on the project this month.
City Manager Bruce Rudd says they won’t make that goal, but they will begin work soon.
“We are hoping to have this go out to bid within the next 60-to-90 days. It will probably be on the street for sixty days. And hopefully back before the council in August to award a contract,” Rudd said.
But opponents of the project say there is no way that state and federal lawsuits and other hurdles will be overcome by the time the city hopes to break ground.
Attorney Sara Hedgpeth-Harris says they will ask the court to block any attempt by the city to begin work before the cases are resolved.
Harris says the cases will take at least six more months.
“We are going to have to seek a preliminary injunction to prevent them from doing that. Because if we win and they have already demolished the mall than we are without a remedy,” Hedgepeth-Harris said.
Fulton Mall project leaders say studies testing the structural integrity of the buildings along the mall are currently underway.