REDLANDS - The empty Slim Pig N's building on Industrial Park Avenue won't be empty for much longer.

Italian food chain The Old Spaghetti Factory announced its intention to move to Redlands and occupy the empty building, according to a press release issued by the Redlands Chamber of Commerce.

"This is great news for the City of Redlands," said City Councilman Mick Gallagher. "The Old Spaghetti Factory is a great addition to our dining inventory here in Redlands."

The Old Spaghetti Factory will open its doors by mid- December. Construction will begin in October to make minor changes to the building.

Gallagher, the city's Redevelopment Agency and the Chamber of Commerce worked together to convince the Italian eatery to come to Redlands, said Paul Foster, economic development chairman for the Chamber of Commerce.

The acquisition of a new restaurant may not signify an economic turnaround for the city, but it does mean the city's leaders are looking to attract more quality businesses to town, Foster said.

"We're going to see a lot more of this in the future," Foster said. "Instead of us throwing up our hands and just saying, `Well, we're in bad economic times right now.' "

Gallagher said City Council members have involved themselves in recruiting businesses in the past.

"If we really want to make the city work, then we need to be a part of that," he said.

Representatives from The Old Spaghetti

Factory were considering Redlands as a spot for a new restaurant, a fact he said is encouraging for the future of Redlands' economic development.

"This could be opening the door for other large businesses to consider Redlands as a destination," he said. "I hope this spirals out and really takes off."

The chamber helped the project along with data collected using Business Analyst Online, an ESRI software application. Access to the software was donated by ESRI.

Using that data, the chamber was able to show the building's proximity to Interstate 10 could make The Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant visible to more than 250,000 motorists per day.

"The fact that we can recruit and land something as significant as The Old Spaghetti Factory is a huge win for Redlands," said Kathie Thurston, executive director for the Chamber of Commerce. "Not only does it compliment our business community, but adding jobs to the city's employment base is great news for all of us."

Thurston said Gallagher's involvement in the effort to recruit the restaurant legitimized it.

"When a business is in the same room as a council member, their sense of security is intensified because they know that they're dealing with the city's big guys," she said.

When The Old Spaghetti Factory opens its Redlands restaurant, as many as 90 jobs could be created.

Foster said the Chamber of Commerce, the Redevelopment Agency and members of the City Council are working to attract businesses that will create jobs in Redlands.

"You just try and get the ball rolling and see where it goes from there," he said.

In January 1969, The Old Spaghetti Factory first opened in Portland, Ore.

E-mail Staff Writer Jesse B. Gill at jgill@redlandsdailyfacts.com

http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/ci_13430192?source=rss_viewed