One Tank Trips

• Jan 18, 2008 5:06 pm US/Pacific
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  One Tank Trip: New Old Town

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One Tank Trip: New Old Town

Reporting
John Iander

Many of the historic towns in Northern California took more than a century to develop.  In Calaveras County a new "old" town is to be built in just two years.

Copperopolis got its name and fame from its rich copper mines.  The town was founded in 1860 and prospered supplying copper for shells for the union army in the civil war.

Just seven years later the war was over and so was Copperopolis's prosperity.  The original town center burned a century ago but about 2,000 people still live nearby these remaining historic buildings.  Mostly though, this town has been surrounded by cattle land and weeds, until now.

Now world wide builder Castle & Cook is creating a new Copperopolis.  In the town center there will be 21 buildings, some several stories tall, a mix of town homes lofts, small businesses and shops.

Project Vice President, Dave Haley, says they don't think it is a gamble at all.  They want to get ahead of the growth pressures in the nation.  The eight million people in the Bay area and the 11-million people including Sacramento are going to expand.  They want to get ahead of it and do it right.

The area will be surrounded by parks and trails, golf courses and housing subdivision.  A community expected to grow to 40-thousand new residents many retiring baby boomers.  Those new residents should find almost everything they need right here.

Architect, Rudy Ortega, says boutique retailing is their main focus, they have about six restaurants.  The intent is to blend old and new.

"Work, play and live, that's basically what we are trying to achieve.  We weren't trying to achieve any historical correctness but we were trying to be sensitive to the character of the mother lode and some of our surrounding towns."

The plan is to open this new town of Copperopolis this march, but already the tourists are stopping by.  Folks are welcome to drive through the town center.  One by one these buildings are being finished and decorated in the western style. So, if you are out for a drive in Calaveras County, stop in and watch a brand new old town rise out of the weeds.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)