Mound Nursery, Cottage Cafe, Selah Cafe, Plants from Paradise, Taco Bell, Burrito Loco -- the space has hosted many different incarnations. Some may even remember the aviary that housed ducks! Sadly, the charm of 40 Day Road has faded. The current owners have let the space fall into unsightly disrepair. They do not live in the city, and I can't help but wonder that this is business as usual for developers: Let unique space fall apart so people are more willing to let it be bulldozed down to make way for yet another "ditto strip mall."
The owners were approached by many different business owners and church representatives with offers to rent the space, but every applicant found they were priced out of the opportunity by rental costs and/or realized they couldn't afford the repairs needed, as the owners were not willing to make any repairs.
How could our community benefit from the space as is? Perhaps a daytime childcare cooperative with evening artist creation space, food share distribution center, organic fruit and veggie exchange, affordable wedding venue, low-cost community meeting rooms, etc.
If you take a trip from downtown Ventura, where uniqueness thrives, to 40 Day Road, you'll pass no less than 20 for lease/rent signs, including space in the newer strip mall directly across from 40 Day Road on Telegraph Road. Couldn't the next Subway, Starbucks and cell phone storefront move into those spaces?
Space that has unique building character with community history is becoming as rare as Mom and Pop coffee shops in our town. Let's save some charm for Midtown, lest we match any other town in Southern California more completely.
-- Carrie McAuliffe, Ventura