LINDSAY — A decade ago, Lindsay was the Central Valley town that the middle class had abandoned.
Its farm economy was in tatters and its downtown looked tired and deserted. An influx of immigrant farm laborers, combined with white flight, made it one of the poorest cities in Tulare County.
But the forgotten city of 10,500, located off state Highway 65 southeast of Visalia, is undergoing something of a rebirth.
A large downtown plaza has been redesigned and lushly landscaped, drawing 5,000 people for a Friday night farmers market. A new aquatic center and library have been added, and a new high school and a wellness center are in the works.
This summer, downtown sidewalks were widened in a fashionable and pedestrian-friendly brick. The city added new street lamps, scores of shade trees and 36 stately palms that are bathed in vibrant color each night like a line of Vegas showgirls.
But the makeover's showstopper lies in a former packinghouse just off Hermosa Street, the city's main thoroughfare. Last year, city leaders unveiled McDermont Field House, a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex that sprawls for nearly a city block.
The three-acre center houses basketball courts, arena soccer fields, a huge laser tag battlefield, a 100-foot-high rock-climbing wall, a fitness center, a boxing ring, a full arcade, a zip line and a giant faux sequoia treehouse.
A slot car track was recently added. And in a town where a curl means a hairstyle, McDermont's popular indoor surf machine, the FlowRider, allows locals to ride a wave like a Huntington Beach pro.
"I've never been to the ocean," said Jose Leal, 16, born and raised in Lindsay to farmworker parents, after an energetic session cutting and pivoting atop his board. "This is where I learned to surf."
The $18-million project, dubbed "Lindsayland" by a local paper, has become a magnet for families in the southern Central Valley. Drawing heavily from the nearby bigger cities of Tulare, Visalia and Porterville, the complex has logged 500,000 visits in its first year, city officials said.
Lindsay's changing look and new energy has some rethinking their opinion of the city.
"I can't tell you how many times I hear, 'We moved too soon,' " said Marie Arroyo, 43, a third-generation resident.
Jose Chavez, 36, a truck driver, is one of those who used to live in Lindsay. Now he lives 20 minutes away in Farmersville. He returns to Lindsay three times a week to play basketball at McDermont.
