Carving of Berwick Park's breaching whales begins

The process of carving out a pair of Cypress tree stumps into a sculpture of two breaching whales began in Pacific Grove's Berwick Park Friday. That's according to Pacific Grove Chamber President Moe Ammar, who said that three different donors stepped forward at Thursday's celebration of the Pacific Grove Tourist Information Center's fifth anniversary to fund the project announced last May. Ultimately, Ammar said that the city's rotary club would be donating the $8 thousand needed for the three local artists to transform the stumps into a symbol of the city's surrounding sea life.

It was John Bridges, a Monterey attorney that had the idea for the sculpture after noticing the big stumps on his drive home from work one day. They were left after high winds had broken the major branches off the tree during a January storm, causing the city to cut it down. 

Pacific Grove Chamber's Moe Ammar notes new interest in Lighthouse Avenue properties

During the public comment period at Pacific Grove's city council meeting this week, Chamber President Moe Ammar noted that three buildings on Lighthouse Avenue were being sold for “$3 and $4 million.” Later, Ammar confirmed to The Herald that the property at 522 Lighthouse where re-purposed furniture and clothing store Marina Patina is currently located, just sold for approximately $1 million. Ammar said the property’s new owner is Greg Zimmerman, the former owner of Pacific Grove’s Sea Breeze Inn and the current owner of the Monterey Peninsula Inn. According to Ammar, Zimmerman has plans to turn the property that still has gas pumps from when it served as a filling station in front of its facade, into a mixed use building with condos and retail/restaurant.
"It'll be kind of what the Holman is like but on a smaller scale," said Ammar. "Instead of 25 condos it would have probably 10."
Ammar credited the partners of Monterey Capital Real Estate Development, the development company behind Pacific Grove's Holman Building, for instigating the renewed interest in the downtown area. 
"Every city and every economic development person will tell you the way you revitalize cities is by mixed use," said Ammar. 

Yes on Measure X signs stolen from outside Pacific Grove's Chamber office

Measure X is heating up in Pacific Grove just in time for the city's annual Good Old Days, which draws upwards of 10,000 people to the streets of downtown.

On Thursday, Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce President Moe Ammar provided video evidence of "Yes on Measure X" signs being taken down from in front of the Chamber's office on Central Avenue. The Chamber voiced its support of Measure X and the proposed Project Bella project early on.

The videos (available here) clearly show two incidents of signs being taken and replaced with "No on Measure X" signs.

The Pacific Grove Police Department is currently conducting an investigation and attempting to identify the suspects in the video footage.

According to Project Bella partner Ron Meer, over 100 Yes on X signs valued at $1,200 have been removed or stolen throughout Pacific Grove at both residential and commercial properties.