Four Friday nights this October, the City of Livingston's Recreation Department will fill the parking lot off C Street with food trucks. It will open the old Livingston Farmers Association warehouse for seating and family activities and put an open mic in the room. Each week is a fundraiser to buy the equipment the facility will need for programming. City plans for that building call for tearing down part of the warehouse and putting up a new gymnasium in its place. The money from a plate of ramen or a smash burger this month will help equip a space that is still in entitlement. The zoning that lets the project move forward comes up for a scheduled vote on October 6, the Tuesday between the first two Fridays.
Four Fridays, a dozen trucks, one parking lot
The City's 2026 calendar lists the nights as October 2, 9, 16 and 23, each running 6 to 9 p.m., and marks the series "4 weeks Only." Last year's series ran on all five October Fridays, from October 3 through October 31, so this year has one fewer night.
The address is less clear than it should be. The community calendar lists the event at D and 7th Street. The event page says the Rec-Plex Facility is on D and 6th Streets and puts the trucks in the Rec-Plex lot off C Street. Either way, it's the same block. Park off C Street and you'll be in the right place.
Food truck applications are closed. Vendors who still want in can join a waitlist. Community groups, nonprofits, churches, schools and businesses can still ask for a weekly table. Here is the City's truck list, grouped by what you're likely to order:
- Dinner: Aiko Ramen for ramen and rice bowls, The Rock Pizza Oven, Villas Mexican Grill for tacos, burritos and quesadillas, Smash Town 209 for smash burgers, wings and jalapeño poppers, Mexi Teriyaki with a daily chicken special, and Krepe Dog for hot dogs
- Snacks: Antojitos Bros for corn, fruit cups, nachos and snow cones, and The Churro Spot
- Drinks: Sueño Coffee Company, Bubbalicious 209 for boba and milk teas, Mamas Mix Bar for dirty sodas and mini pancake skewers, and The Sweet Lemon Shack for lemonade, limeade and teas
The City says it will keep updating the page as October gets closer, so check it before you go.
Sueño Coffee Company is the closest of these to a hometown story. The Merced County Times described a café that started as a pop-up and now has a storefront at 1744 D Street, just down D Street from the lot.
The warehouse behind the lot
The building you'll sit in started out as a 25,000-square-foot warehouse at 641 Sixth Street, long used by the Livingston Farmers Association. The association handed the City the keys at a ceremony on July 21, 2022. State money made the deal work. California awarded Livingston $7,390,119 from the Proposition 68 Statewide Park Program, and the state's grant record still lists the project as in progress.
When the Merced Sun-Star covered the award in December 2021, the plan was to convert the whole warehouse. It was to hold multi-use courts and a ninja gym, with a playground, splash pad, walking path, exercise stations, picnic areas and public art outside. A January 2025 design presentation showed a cost estimate of $12.6 million, dated May 25, 2023. It showed $7,423,658 in grant funding: $1.9 million for parcel acquisition, $1.3 million for design and coordination, $4.1 million for construction, and a separate $123,658 per-capita kitchen grant.
In September 2025 the plan changed. A City update said the architect had found infrastructure failures in the old building that would cost more than the funding available for the entire project. Staff redrew the plans to replace the remodel with a new facility, and set a goal of delivering the grant package before a December 2027 deadline. The same update said a grant writer, California Consulting, had applied on August 4 to the Land and Water Conservation Fund for a park at C and 7th that would include the original Prop 68 items. It also said the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission would hold fundraisers over the next couple of years to buy equipment for the building. Food Truck Fridays are one of those fundraisers.
What the money is meant to equip
The current plan is the Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration the City released in June 2026. It covers five parcels and about 4.58 acres, roughly between Sixth Street and the railroad tracks. Each phase moves ahead as funding becomes available. The phases are listed in order:
- A new recreation building. The eastern part of the warehouse comes down for a new building of about 9,000 square feet. It would hold a 6,156-square-foot gymnasium, studio classrooms, restrooms, storage and a lobby.
- Street and alley closures. Seventh Street between C and D Streets closes, along with the alley behind it, joining the five parcels into one campus.
- Outdoor recreation. A playground, community garden, splash pad, outdoor exercise equipment and parking go in between C and D Streets, east of 7th Street. Two basketball courts and a second parking lot go west of 7th Street, north of the alley.
- The rest of the warehouse. The western portion of the old building is renovated into a multipurpose room, offices, teen and senior centers and a kitchen.
The first phase would change the block's evening hours the most. The document proposes community use of the gym from 4 to 9 p.m., with up to 100 participants a day. It lists sports classes, camps, and basketball and volleyball leagues among the possible uses. That 9 p.m. closing time matches the end of each Food Truck Friday.
The Tuesday between the first two Fridays
For now, the block is still zoned for industry. The rezone ordinance would move the five parcels from M-1 Limited Industrial to P-F Public or Quasi-Public Facilities. The Planning Commission took up the revised plan at an August 11, 2026 hearing. According to the City's notice for the next hearing, the Commission recommended approving the General Plan Amendment and the rezone.
The City Council held a public hearing on September 15. The agenda included adopting the environmental document, approving the General Plan Amendment and introducing the rezone ordinance. On September 17, the City gave notice that the Council intends to adopt the ordinance on October 6, 2026, at 7 p.m. That meeting falls between the October 2 and October 9 food truck nights.
None of the City documents covered here gives a construction or opening date for the new building, and the environmental notice says the complex will be built in phases as funding becomes available. Anyone who wants more than dinner can join the fundraising committee, buy items the Commission sells, or come to its events. Questions go to the address on the City's update page, [email protected].
After the last Friday, the calendar moves to Main Street
When the trucks leave the Rec-Plex lot after October 23, the City's events move back to Main Street. The 2026 community calendar lists Día de Muertos for November 7 and 8. The local committee's site confirms a 2026 committee is in place but still says event details are coming soon. The Veterans Day Parade steps off at 11 a.m. on Main Street on November 11.
December has two evenings on Main Street a week apart. The Court of Trees Grand Lighting is December 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Courtyard Plaza on Main Street. The Lighted Christmas Parade and Gift Fair is Friday, December 11. Food trucks set up on Main Street at 5 p.m., the parade lines up at 6 p.m., and it starts at 6:30 p.m., running from Peach to D Street.
Out by Highway 99, the QuikWay Travel Center is under construction near Campbell Boulevard and Hammatt Avenue. Its Arby's and Jimmy John's would each be the first in Merced County. As of July 20, the developers had not announced an opening date.
At Levy Real Estate Group, we follow projects like the Rec-Plex from the grant award through the zoning votes, because that is when a block's future starts taking shape. If you own a home near C and D Streets and want to talk about what a recreation campus could mean for your property over the next few years, Request a White-Glove Consultation.
