Frida Cafe seeks community help to open Fresno Water Tower location
Frida Cafe is asking Fresno for help to finish a Water Tower coffee shop as rising buildout costs threaten the project’s fall opening.
Frida Cafe is asking Fresno residents to help cover rising buildout costs for a coffee shop inside the Fresno Water Tower, the Fulton Street landmark downtown. Owner Albee Sanchez said the project has become too expensive for the business to absorb while it also carries summer operating expenses, and the goal is still to open the tower location this fall if fundraising and construction stay on track.
Sanchez said Frida Cafe had been supporting two locations, but the Fulton Street site had to close during the Water Tower buildout. The inside of the tower is being restored so the cafe can operate there, turning one of downtown Fresno’s most recognizable buildings into a working business rather than a vacant landmark.
The stakes reach beyond one cafe. The City of Fresno describes the Water Tower as a historical structure and says the city has more than 300 designated historic resources. City history materials say the water plant and distribution system was purchased by California Water Service Company in 1926 and sold to the City of Fresno in 1931. City preservation materials say preservation plays an important role in revitalizing downtown and other neighborhoods, and the Water Tower sits in an area that includes some of Fresno’s oldest and most historically significant blocks in the Fulton Corridor.
The effort is also the latest chapter in a long-running attempt to give the tower a public-use future. Sanchez previously said, “We are certainly not leaving downtown, but rather we are going to harness it in a new light,” as he worked with city leaders on the project. Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias called the tower an “amazing historical jewel.” A 2022 report put the renovation at $1.2 million and said the tower had been closed since March 2020 and was several months behind schedule.
For downtown Fresno, the outcome will measure whether a landmark can become more than a preservation project. If the fundraising push falls short, the tower is likely to remain a closed restoration effort instead of the kind of daily-use destination that could bring more foot traffic and customer activity into the city center.
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