Downtown Menlo Park Heads Into the Holidays With Its Main Block Still Undecided

Two Menlo Park council actions from this year shape what Santa Cruz Avenue looks like this December. In June, the council kept the city's holiday tree lightings in the budget and cut the contract that repairs the string lights in the downtown medians. In October, at a study session ahead of a future vote, a council majority leaned toward reopening the eastbound lane on the 600 block, which has been closed since 2020. Both point the same way. The city is protecting its fixed holiday events, while the everyday street around them, including the lights and the plaza, is now open to change.

The 2026 holiday season downtown is the first since the June budget took effect, and the first with the plaza's future formally in question.

The tree stayed, and the median lights lost their repair budget

In early June, The Almanac reported that city staff had proposed another $700,000 in cuts for the council to consider. Two of them were about holiday light.

The June 23 budget staff report records that the council approved the proposed reductions with one exception: it kept the tree-lighting contracts. It also says staff would look at scaling back the tree-lighting event only if more savings were needed. The city announced that the full FY2026-27 budget was adopted that night and balanced without drawing on General Fund reserves.

The map makes the split concrete. Fremont Park sits at Santa Cruz Avenue and University Drive, the same corner where the median-light stretch begins. The tree the city chose to keep lighting stands at one end of the lights it chose to stop repairing.

Downtown advocates have taken note. In an October guest opinion in The Almanac, Downtown Menlo Fund chair Marnie Foody listed "dead planters, broken irrigation, outdated street furniture, and non-functioning streetlights" among the downtown's problems. She wrote that canceling decorative lighting contracts has left "our streets in the dark." She also noted that more than 200 small businesses operate downtown.

The block that proved itself this summer

Foody's group also brought a new monthly event to the 600 block in 2026. The Downtown Menlo Fund is a resident-led nonprofit. Its founders, listed on its website, are Paul Charrette, Ben Eiref, Marnie Foody and Laura Melahn. In 2026 it launched Fourth Fridays, a free evening of live music from 6 to 9 p.m. with performers spread up and down Santa Cruz Avenue.

The series ran four times, and the 600 Block Plaza was a stage at each one documented here:

1. July 24. The opener put The Members and The Wanderers on the plaza. Melodious Thunk played at Feldman's Books, Dave Nesbitt Jazz Band at Gitane, Steven Koehler outside Cheeky Monkey, and Corrie Dunn at Gallery House.
2. August 28. Up and to The Right played the 600 Block Plaza. The Song Gardeners took the Evelyn Stage, Rick Sanders played at Gallery House, and Infrastructure played at The Main Gallery.
3. September 25. The third installment on the Fund's season listing.
4. October 23. Country Cougars played the center of the 600 Block Plaza. Clint Baker & The All Stars played Borrone Plaza, Diego Ortiz played at Feldman's Books, and a Kids Stage hosted Steven Koehler.

At an October 13 council study session, Foody said business owners had reported sales jumping on Fourth Fridays. "We are seeing literally hundreds of people coming not just from Menlo Park, but from the surrounding area, to our downtown," she said, according to The Almanac's account of the meeting. She added that the group had hoped to grow the series to a full schedule of events in 2027, and that losing the plaza would limit its ability to keep hosting.

Fourth Fridays runs through the warmer months, so the plaza has no concert this December. The Fund invites musicians and volunteers to reach it at [email protected] for next season.

What the council is weighing for the 600 block

The 600 block of Santa Cruz Avenue closed to eastbound traffic in 2020 to give restaurants and shops outdoor space during the pandemic. In June 2025, the council voted to keep it closed, partly because residents used it so often as a gathering place. The Almanac reported that most councilmembers had backed a permanent plaza, pointing to teenagers using the block after school and its value for large community events.

The October study session changed that. A majority supported piloting a hybrid layout. The eastbound lane would reopen, the bike lane would be removed, and a smaller gathering area would stay in the parking spaces. Councilmember Drew Combs proposed running the pilot for six months to a year and comparing it with the current plaza and the block's pre-2020 layout. Mayor Betsy Nash said she had done a "complete 180." She cited upkeep around the plaza and the construction access needed for nearby projects, including a proposed six-story residential building at 800 Oak Grove Ave. and housing planned on three downtown parking lots. Councilmember Jeff Schmidt supported finishing the permanent plaza as designed.

The money already spent shows how far the permanent plan had gone. City staff reported spending about $61,000 on furniture and $30,000 on a design consultant, with about $250,000 left for the project. Economic Development Director Collette Hanna estimated that the permanent plaza, built to the current plans, would have been finished by the end of 2027. City Manager Justin Murphy said the next step is a council vote on reopening the eastbound lane.

So the plaza goes into the holidays in its current form, with its long-term size and layout up to the council.

A December built around fixed points

The city's holiday events are the dates that kept their funding, and each one takes place at a set venue:

• Monday, November 30, 6 to 7 p.m. Cocoa at the Campus at the Belle Haven Community Campus, 100 Terminal Ave. The free event has youth performances, hot cocoa, mini churros and the campus tree lighting, which is one of the two contracts the council saved.
• Friday, December 4, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Shop local! Light Up the Season at Fremont Park, Santa Cruz Avenue at University Drive, rain or shine. The city bills it as the kickoff of Menlo Park's Centennial Celebration. Plans include free family entertainment, youth performances, centennial- and winter-themed photo spots, and hot cocoa while it lasts. This year the city is lighting the Menlo Park oak and giving "our beloved pine tree a well deserved break."
• Saturday, December 12, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Photos with Santa at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center, 700 Alma St., with crafts and light refreshments. Admission is $5 per person, and reservations opened November 2 at 9 a.m.

Light Up the Season's full name asks people to shop and dine at local small businesses while they are downtown. From Fremont Park, the 600 block is a short walk. The Downtown Menlo directory lists Cold Stone Creamery at 611 Santa Cruz Avenue, Dolma Imports at 622, Abbey Carpet Flooring Center at 626, Bar Loretta at 639, Cheeky Monkey Toys at 640 and Bistro Vida at 641.

On the 700 block, Dragon General opened October 14 at 712 Santa Cruz Ave., in the space that used to be Mrs Khan. The Almanac reported that its menu covers Dongbei, Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan and Sichuan dishes. As of late October it was soft-opening, Wednesday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.

Between the oak at Fremont Park and the shops on the 600 block run the median lights the city no longer repairs, and the plaza whose next layout is up for a council vote.

When downtown's public spaces change, so does the daily life of the homes around them, from walking routes to whether a free concert happens down the street. If you live near Santa Cruz Avenue and want to talk through how the plaza decision and the downtown housing proposals could affect your block, Jackie Schoelerman and Richard Schoelerman bring market and architectural perspective to that conversation. Schedule a Private Consultation.