HAYWARD — As a young, Cal State Hayward college student, Marvin Peixoto worked in the Kaiser Permanente medical office building on Tennyson Road.

It was a time and place when the now-Hayward city councilman recalls filing patient charts and sending them to doctors and medics.

Frenchy’s on Mission Boulevard was one of the largest East Bay nightclubs, hosting artists who included the Oakland rhythm and blues bands Cold Blood and Tower of Power.

“It was a very active community in those days,” Peixoto said.

“I think the problem in those days and now is that the corridor just doesn’t look attractive, and I think that impacts in a negative way the collective self-esteem of the surrounding neighborhoods,” he said.

Hayward is considering ways to combat those perceptions and lift up neighborhoods along the nearly three-mile thoroughfare from Mission to Industrial Boulevard.

“The term Tennyson corridor evokes many different ideas, and if you throw that term out into a room, you’re going to get a lot of responses back all across the board about what it means, what it is and where it is,” city Libraries and Community Services Director Sean Reinhart said at the City Council’s April 11 meeting, where the topic was discussed.

“It’s a vibrant and culturally rich area of our community, and it has been the subject of a lot of discussions over many years. However, to date, there has not been a single overarching concept plan,” he said.

Although some Kaiser medical offices and an urgent care clinic at Tennyson and Sleepy Hollow Avenue remain, its hospital at the corner of Hesperian Boulevard has sat empty for years, fenced off.

Rather than make state-mandated seismic upgrades to the building, Kaiser Permanente closed the hospital in 2014 after it built a new one in San Leandro.

To improve the Tennyson area, South Hayward resident Angela Andrews said she would like to see more public art to reduce blight and foster community pride; more dining, entertainment and shopping options; and safety measures installed for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists near Interstate 880.

Pexioto, along with fellow council members Francisco Zermeno, Al Mendall, Elisa Marquez and Mark Salinas, said as a first step, the city should pursue beautification initiatives, such as creating bicycle paths, placing utility lines underground, installing more public art and planting trees. Renovation grants or incentives for apartment owners and commercial businesses should also be explored to improve the look and feel of South Hayward neighborhoods.

“It needs to look like a true community, and I think those people who live there are dealing with day-to-day survival issues, and they need to feel comfortable and that they have value,” Peixoto said.

“Making the Tennyson corridor look good is going to bring back that collective self-esteem that says, ‘I am a person, I’m living here in Hayward and I’m proud of it,’ ” he said.

Salinas, Marquez and Councilwoman Sara Lamnin said Hayward should work with Union Pacific and Caltrans to improve safety conditions along the Interstate 880 on-ramps and off-ramps on Tennyson and the railway next to Cesar Chavez Middle School, where residents have been injured or killed in recent years.

South Hayward also should be envisioned as a future entertainment area for families because of its close proximity to Valle Vista Park and Tennyson Park, where an all-accessible playground, called Mia’s Dream Come True, is planned, Mendall said.

Bike trails and walking paths, along with businesses such as miniature golf and go-cart facilities, should be encouraged in the area, he said.

“There are a lot of families and kids who live within a half a mile or mile’s walk or bike ride of Tennyson Road … and there’s an opportunity,” Mendall said.

“If we can create some attractions out there, they will come, it will be popular and we can make it safe,” he said.

Zermeno, who lives in South Hayward, said he also would like to see businesses like coffee shops, banks and bike shops open along Tennyson. The city should also consider naming a street in South Hayward, preferably near Cesar Chavez Middle School, for the civil rights activist and American labor leader, he said.

City staff members will use the council’s feedback to plan and set priorities for South Hayward projects and initiatives.

Contact Darin Moriki at 510-293-2480 or follow him at Twitter.com/darinmoriki.