Downtown Hayward is the original and current central business district of Hayward, California, United States, and is home to the current Hayward City Hall, along with the two previous city halls, Alex Giualini Plaza and the City Center Building. The Hayward Fault runs through the area, and is the cause of the two previous city halls being taken out of use.The boundaries are Third Street to the east, Grand Street and Hayward BART to the west, Jackson Street and E Street to the south, and City Center Drive/Hazel Avenue to the north. Foothill Boulevard was known as "The Golden Strip", a retail business corridor that was built in the 1950s, and housed Capwell's and I. Magnin department stores. The street lost businesses after the opening of Southland Mall in 1964. Parks include Newman Park and The Julio Bras Portuguese Park. San Lorenzo Creek runs through downtown. The Hayward Public Library is located there. "Hayward City Center" a mall and building complex located at the northern end of downtown, contains the City Center Building, which served as the city's second city hall from 1969 to 1991, and is now an abandoned 11 story building, Hayward's tallest building, formerly the second tallest prior to California State University, East Bay's Warren Hall demolition in 2013. The City Center complex previously contained the now demolished Centennial Hall Convention Center. The bankrupt Mervyns department store chain's large former headquarters is across the street from the City Center mall. The Hayward Area Historical Society operates a museum downtown, which relocated and re-opened June 2014. The FBI operates a resident agency in downtown Hayward. The Hayward Art Council, founded in 1975, operates the Sun Gallery downtown. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building on B Street is one of Hayward's oldest buildings, and was built in 1868. The Hayward 9/11 Memorial was dedicated May 30, 2016, to the first responders who died in 9/11, and to the city's own fallen first responders, and the city's fallen soldiers.
