Plywood city

That explained the sight that greeted my eyes as I walked through downtown on Monday afternoon. Almost everywhere I saw construction activity as crews and individuals covered vulnerable windows and doors with plywood. Although I felt pretty confident that the planned demonstration would remain peaceful, I understood the desire on the part of many to take precautions. Certainly, I was happy to see many of our historic buildings being protected, including the Lathrop House on Marshall Street and the Sequoia Hotel and the Bank of San Mateo County building, both on Broadway. And naturally I supported the boarding up of our banks and jewelry stores. But as of Monday afternoon, only a smattering of our restaurants and retail outlets had been given protection, and the whys and wherefores had me puzzled.

Wanting to take another crack at understanding why some businesses were getting boarded up while others weren’t, on Tuesday afternoon I took a quick trip to Redwood City’s downtown. This time, the pattern was clearer. With just one or two exceptions (City Pub being one), by then nearly every door and window along Broadway from El Camino Real to Main Street had been covered. On Main Street, almost every storefront between at least Marshall Street and Middlefield Road had been boarded over (although not Ralph’s Vacuum & Sewing Center; perhaps Ralph was as confident as I). Indeed, by the time the protest got underway almost every window and door throughout the heart of downtown had been covered.

The demonstration had originally been planned to take place in front of City Hall, but as the appointed time approached someone seems to have realized that our “public living room,” Courthouse Square, was a much better venue for an event that ended up attracting more than 1,000 participants. While it is possible that this change in location, which wasn’t announced until the day of the event, explains why some of the businesses that weren’t protected on Monday were then boarded up on Tuesday, more likely it was some combination of difficulty in scheduling work crews, a reluctance to board up until the last minute, and businesses changing their minds when they saw how many of their fellow merchants were protecting their own storefronts. Whatever the real reasons, by the time the event began, to an observer in Courthouse Square there was not a window to be seen, at least at ground level. And around the square much of that plywood was festooned with artwork and with messages of support.

The plywood panels went up quickly — nearly all of downtown Redwood City was blanketed within about a day and a half — but they haven’t come down nearly so fast. I had assumed that some storefronts might re-emerge the day after the protest, but no. I then guessed that everyone had been waiting for the 5 a.m. Thursday expiration of the county curfew. But by 2 p.m. on Thursday it appeared that the only panels that had been removed were a handful that had covered the doors of businesses that were eager to reopen.

I’m relieved to say that the panels either worked as a deterrent or were not needed: the demonstration turned out to be a peaceful one. Soon “Plywood City” will be no more. Here’s hoping that the massive number of plywood panels and the large number of 2x4s that supported them won’t be trashed, but instead will be put to good use.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.