SUISUN CITY — Suisun City faces a range of opportunities that would not have been possible a few years ago.
Recent passage of the Measure S sales tax measure and the improvement of the economy has given Suisun City more funds to aim at city priorities such as fixing streets and improving public safety.
Measure S was expected to bring in $1.8 million dollars in sales tax revenue, but ended up generating $2.4 million.
Suisun City’s waterfront will be getting better visibility with the iconic sign facing Highway 12 planned for Spring Street.
The success of the city’s first hotel has spawned a second one next door which work has already begun on this year.
“I am excited about the direction that Suisun City is going in,” said Mayor Lori Wilson.
Developer and former Suisun City Manager Camran Nojoomi is building a 57,000-square-foot Holiday Inn Express hotel that will rise four stories tall and hold 83 rooms.
It will also include two meeting rooms, an indoor pool, a catering kitchen and a fitness center once it is build in about 16 months, according to Nojoomi.
The next project in Nojoomi’s sights is an ambitious multi-family housing project planned for vacant land that once housed a water treatment plant near the south end of Civic Center Boulevard. The project is currently in the application stage.
The town, with a population of nearly 30,000, is also getting the fiscal and shopping benefits of the Walmart off Highway 12 that opened two years ago.
An alliance of local and regional performing arts groups now offer performances at the Harbor Theatre on Main Street and the historic train depot wrapped up its facelift recently.
Suisun City is also home to the Lawler House Gallery, a Kroc Center operated by The Salvation Army, a history museum and a bevy of live outdoor entertainment in the summer.
The city dates back to 1850 when Josiah Wing, a schooner captain, found an island in the Suisun Marsh and built a wharf and warehouse there. It soon became the major agriculture shipping point for the farms and orchards in the Suisun Valley and Green Valley areas.
A train depot was built. Suisun City was bustling with several hotels along Main Street.
Fairfield was the smaller of the two towns. That changed with World War II, the construction of what’s now Travis Air Force Base and Interstate 80. Suisun City’s growth tapered off.
Tough years followed. In the early 1980s, a survey of San Francisco Bay Area communities called the town the least attractive place to live in the area, which spurred then-Mayor Jim Spering to take on an ambitious redevelopment effort.
Waterfront properties were redeveloped and the crime-ridden Crescent neighborhood was razed and replaced with a Victorian-style development. Improvements continued with the construction of a senior center, community center and library.
Suisun City’s new face earned it accolades such as Sactown magazine’s description of it as “a sweet and delightfully surprising vacation spot.”
Its downtown is still a work in progress with a good population of restaurants, small businesses and a marina.
Developers are again expressing interested in buying several old buildings and vacant parcels in the city’s old town for development.
The Salvation Army’s Kroc Center is home to community events as well as offering a place for worship and workouts.
The city hosts many events, including Christmas on the Waterfront and Fourth of July fireworks. During the summer, there are free movies on Saturday nights and jazz concerts Sunday afternoons.
Suisun City has long considered itself a recreation destination for fishermen and hunters going to the Suisun Marsh as well as paddle boarders and kayakers.
One of its best-kept secrets may be the Suisun Wildlife Center, which is home to a variety of wildlife. Some residents will call it home forever. Others are there with hopes of being released back into their native habitat.
The 2015 census estimated Suisun City’s population at 29,492. About 38 percent of its residents are white, 24 percent Latino, 20 percent black and 19 percent Asian. Its median household income is about $71,306.
Suisun City at a glance
- City Hall: 701 Civic Center Blvd.
- Website: www.suisun.com
- City manager: Greg Folsom
- Mayor: Lori Wilson. Elected 2018, term expires 2022. Reach at [email protected]
- Councilwoman: Jane Day. Elected 1986, term expires 2022. Reach at [email protected]
- Councilman: Anthony Adams. Elected 2018, term expires 2020. Reach at [email protected]
- Councilman: Wanda Williams, Elected 2018, term expires 2022. Reach at [email protected]
- Mayor Pro Tem: Mike Segala. Elected 1992, term expires 2018. Reach at [email protected]
