The Lodi Downtown Gateway is the key element of “Catalyst Project Number 1” of the Central City Revitalization Concept Plan developed through the cooperative efforts of property owners, Lodi citizens, and urban planners Freedman, Tung & Bottomley and adopted by the Lodi City Council in 1995.
The Lodi Mission Arch, designed by architect E. B. Brown, was built in 1907, the year after Lodi became an incorporated city. The purpose of the Arch was to provide a formal, fancy entrance to the grounds of the Tokay Carnival, the first Lodi Grape Festival.