It’s new! It’s here! It’s ours. The new City Hall is ready to take its place in the heart of the city. Credit Frank Taylor first, who envisioned it, and Frank Fiscalini and David Pandori who got it on the ballot when everyone else was afraid. Joe Guerra was also critical to the effort. Ron Gonzales stayed the course, for better and worse. Jude Barry also deserves credit along with Rob and Goodie Steinberg, our local architects who gave Richard Meier the level of support a world-class architect demands and deserves. Thank them for the dome.
Whether you love the design or not, and many do, it is first class, the product of a great set of minds: namely, Taylor and Meier. It was right to return our City Hall to where it was snatched from half a century ago. The public Council Chamber is spectacular and worthy of San Jose – and best of all, the citizens now look down on the council not up, and the speakers are at the same level. The outrageous star-chamber effect of the old City Hall is gone and not lamented.
There were at least two wrongs during the building process and the particulars are well known. A little candor on these issues would have been a great asset. The mistakes should not be forgotten or forgiven, but they are in the past and we should put them behind us. It is time to take stock and appreciate what we have in this new asset.
But we must get one thing clear: the new City Hall is not going to be a tourist attraction, period. It is not intended to be one and only a lunatic (or a County Supervisor) would think so. It is a civic structure for a civic use; it will serve San Jose for much longer than the nearly fifty years that our municipal center wandered in the wilderness of North First Street.
Two wrongs do not make a right, but putting City Hall back where it belongs redresses an old and foolish move by the city fathers of another day, and it is a big win for those who care about San Jose.
The reasons for the move of City government out to the hinterlands of North First Street seem to have been forgotten:
Badly damaged by termites and earthquakes, the old Victorian structure at South Market and Park Avenue could not be rebuilt. The Council Chambers and Percy O’Connor’s Police Court could not be reached by elevator as the tower was at the stage of near failure.
The search for a downtown location was futile.
The only viable place was Washington Square and only if the State would move San Jose State College out to the Phelan Estate property where Spartan Stadium is located. That was impossible so another location had to be found.
The orchard on the road to Alviso was available and priced right so that was the new location! There was nothing devious or sinister, no graft, no payoffs. Business was done in a different manner in those days!
Jerry
Tom:
Thank for the back-handed compliment to Mayor Gonzales.
There are certainly more than 2 wrongs on this project. There may be 2 that have been made public but the other wrongs, such as the manipulative method of accounting to make the project look like it was only a little over budget, have yet to see the light of day. Many good people have left the city over this project because they refused to take the “party line” and damage their own integrity. Others, apparently, had no choice (or no integrity to protect) and proceeded to cover-up and deceive the public so that this less-than-unique structure could be erected.
The argument can be made that City Hall belongs downtown, but as usual in the current SJ, the way this was done leaves a bad taste that cannot and should not be put behind us. You, of all people, should know that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
As for the dome, little thanks are deserved for a structure that looks like a giant kiosk or nuclear reactor and sits next to the building like it was forgotten until it was too late to place it in the correct spot. The concrete plaza reflects light and heat like a solar furnace. And the drab inside looks somewhat unfinished (I’m talking about the finished areas, not the unfinished ones.) The unremarkable view of the building when approaching from the east looks as if the budget ran out before they could finsh that side.
If and when the real numbers on the building are released, and if the the major wiring issues are ever worked out (right now it is hardly a building worthy of being the key building in the so-called Capital of Silicon Valley) and if the glass doesn’t blow out of the dome, and if….then we can talk about the copycat building in a more positive light.
Other than that, what a great addition to downtown. Let’s hope we don’t have any more like this one.
There will be some local tourists who will be curious to see the new city hall. Too bad there’s nothing else to do around there once you’ve seen it. Oh well, maybe I’ll just drive straight to Santana Row where I can do some shopping, watch people while dining in one of those open air restaurants, and take a walk without fear of getting harassed by a bum.
Jerry, you make a couple of points that I have trouble with.
I’ve heard time & again that the old City Hall was in such bad shape it couldn’t be saved. It’s hard for me to believe the technology to repair that building didn’t exist in the late 50’s. Let’s face it—old was out and new was in back then and that building didn’t have a chance. But I don’t buy that it wasn’t fixable. I’m not saying it should have remained the City Hall, but I highly doubt it couldn’t have been saved and put to another use. This is the same story we got from SJ Unified when in a knee-jerk reaction to the 1971 LA quake they bulldozed all of the beautiful old pre-Field Act buildings and replaced them with identical stamped out non-descript boxes, save for the Hoover and Wilson Jr. High buildings. Their reason: too expensive and time consuming to retrofit as opposed to starting from scratch. Yet when Hoover was recently brought back to use as a school, it was a matter of a few short months of work and that building was deemed safe for students—this after sailing through Loma Prieta without so much as a crack in the plaster. This disregard for architectural significance by local governemental agencies continues even today and there is very little left for groups like the Preservation Action Council to fight for anymore. Dispicable behavior by all responsible for the losses we’ve seen around here and another reason this town has no identity.
Also, given that we have late 50’s and early 60’s buildings downtown (the old Community Bank complex comes to mind) it’s hard for me to accept that there was no downtown option for a new City Hall. Just another 50’s inspired flight from the urban core by the powers that be is more like the real story behind that move.
The city hall finally puts an exclaimation point to the redevelopment effort of downtown San Jose for the 26 years. It’s fresh, vibrant and exciting! I have been following up on the effort all the way through, and they built everything that was on the table during McEnery term, albeit putting the Silicon Valley Financial Center project office buildings on the west side of downtown instead of area from next to former retail pavillion to 4th St.. The Adobe buildings on Park Avenue can attest to that. In other words, we build all square footages of office space we’ve envisioned for the current date. Alas, we also build attractions, housing and hotels. Downtown is technically a finished product based on 1995 and 2010 plan adopted by the redevelopment agency back then, and now, we are focusing on the next level, meaning building more highrise housing and retail to ensure future success of downtown. Come and enjoy the finished product of agency plan.
So when the new baseball stadium comes up and people ask how much it will cost – maybe they will say “Hey, at least it won’t be 500 million!” Everything will look cheap in comparison!
Don’t I wish…
So, downtown is now a finished product as proclaimed by Gary. That must be news to the city employees being harassed each day as they walk many blocks to the city hall from distant parking. They probably were hopeful that someday downtown would be a comfortable and safe place to walk, day or night. Now they can rest assured that this is as good as it will get. I guess the new mantra will be “Downtown, it’s safe (as long you travel in packs.”
Before our city visionaries get carpal tunnel from repeatedly patting themselves on the back – will this building house all the city workers as advertised?
Maybe our hard-hitting Mercury News team can spare a minute from their Arnold hit-piece dujour to find out.
No, Only 1750 employees of the approximately
See http://www.sanjoseca.gov/newCityHall/geninfo_fact.asp
$343 million est cost / 1750 = $196,000 per employee
<More real estimated is between $450-500 million with furniture, parking phones/ computers etc = $257,142 to $285,714 per employee
No wonder we can’t staff our parks, community centers, fix streets / sewers etc . where our tax money is normally spent
You might want to look at San Jose’s city government average grade B- grade in 2000 probably lower now
http://www.governing.com/gpp/2000/gp0sanj.htm
The Facts , just the Facts
Poster #3 above hit the mark when he or she pointed out that the east face of the new city hall has no municipal character. Indeed, if you approach the city hall along Santa Clara Street from the east you will be surprised to note that there are no defining characteristics we are accustomed to associate with important civic buildings. It might as well be a bank or college dorm for all the meaning that it conveys.
My neighbors have suggested that it is a none-too-subtle insult to residents of East Valley—Berryessa, Independence High, Alum Rock, and Evergreen neighborhoods.
The east face is not welcoming, defining, interesting, or meaningful in any sense.
It’s about time city hall was back. Give some credit to those who moved it to North First Street. Please name names we all would love to know even if they are all dead now. I also see that most of the innovation at City Hall has left by those who you are thanking. Isn’t there any imagination left there? How about the Mayor hopefulls do you see any indication that they have some vision and , if so, who is it?
Now that we have a building that can’t handle all the city employees, perhaps it’s time to consider some options that will benefit the taxpayers. People should not have to come downtown to conduct city business except for council meetings. So why don’t we put service centers conveintly located where people can conduct the business that requires them to have contact with city employees, filings, permits, etc. It’s time the city conducted it’s business with the technology developed in the area!
Also from the city’s website:
A new water feature for the New San Jose City Hall
As part of the City’s ongoing commitment to the arts, the San Jose Arts Commission and San Jose Public Art Program commissioned artists Anna Valentina Murch and Douglas Hollis, of San Francisco, to create a water feature for the New City Hall, to be located at Fifth and Santa Clara Streets. In December 2003, City Council approved an agreement with the artists to fabricate and install the water feature.
With all the art and talent in San Jose, whty does the city of San Jose always choose artists from other cities?
Want to know my answer? The people who run our city don’t feel that we are a great enough city – we need to associate with people from great cities so that we can feel great by association.
We not only need new leaders that have vision for where San Jose is going, we need leaders that can see the city we are, and the jewels that are within. Maybe if we hold are artists in high esteem the rest of the world wwill too!
Mark:
Two things
It STUNK! The smell of the drunk tank and the city jail in the basement could be noted as far as First St. No way to get rid of that…
Secondly, the local historians agree with me!
Have you checked with any of the old timers who were around?
Jerry
Jerry,
I don’t know what tower you’re referring to in regard to the old downtown city hall. The council chambers were never reached by elevator; it was on the first floor—although one had to climb the outside granite stairs to reach entry into the building. The second floor was devoted to city offices, planning, public works, etc. and I don’t recall any horrible stench. I worked in that building prior to the city hall locating to north first street.
Bill T, I’ve been to all downtown major cities in the U.S., and downtown San Jose is the safest and most walkable. Harry, you’re absolutely incorrect because just about everyone goes downtown. Sorry.
There are rumors that former Iraqi information minister Al-Sahaf has relocated to San Jose and now goes by the name of Gary.
Jerry I have heard tell of the stench from the drunk tank. But Old Timer says he never smelled anything. I guess you had to be there, and that building bit it when I was barely 4 years old. But you know, I had a friend who used the SF trolley system for years and hated the old trolley cars. He said he couldn’t wait until the last one of them was crushed into a ball. And now what’s happening up there? They’ve scrouged up & restored old trolleys and are running them up & down Market St. So everybody has their opinion and I still feel like that building was worth saving, but as I stated above, it was the 50’s and old CH didn’t have a snowball’s chance of survival for reasons that go way beyond how it smelled downstairs.
Gary, I admire your enthusiasm and boosterism regarding downtown, but it still has a loooooong way to go before it’s really a thriving urban center. We can all thank Tom for getting the ball rolling and making good headway on a skyline, flat top that it may be overall, but there’s still much to be done downtown—it’s a job that will never be finished, and I mean that in a good way.
Dale & Lost, I agree with you regarding the east-facing side of new CH. It gives the impression that the project ran out of money. Just another ugly building like the Hilton when you approach from the east. Another shameful oversight on the part of mayor and council who approved the final design.
I predict that the cost, when all is said and done, will reach 600-650M. The Taj Gonzales will be the most costly civic building in the history of San Jose and the surrounding area. Gonzales doesn’t care though, he’s termed out and will probably run for State office where he can spend even more citizens money. Sort of reminds me of the Light Rail project managed by Santa Clara County. I had never heard so many OOPS coments.
I hope they remove that ugly telephone pole right at the corner of Santa Clara & 4th.
Who cares? It’s downtown San Jose.
No one ever goes there.
1 thing I’ve learned about the valley is how many successful companies have taken nose dives soon after building ‘Taj Mahals’ for their worker bees. It’s almost like a curse.
Borland, Apple, SGI, Netscape. Cisco just barely avoided the same fate in Coyote Valley.
So the city follows suit and builds a palace for it’s workers? As a famous cartoon dog once said, “Ruh Roh”.
Yes – it is great for San Jose.
But, given today’s paper and the Grand Jury report – we should refrain from compliments until we find out just HOW MUCH of the price tag was back-room deals, bribes and off-shore accounts registered to the Mayor and Budget Director.
I’m happy for downtown but, literally, at what cost? Will the taxpayers ever really know how much money was illegally spend ( Cisco, Garbage, etc. ) on a project this large given the people running it were ALL theives and liars.
Cheer if you want, but I’m still with Al Ruffo.
Dear Citizens:
Fact: The city council has authorized spending $391 million for the new civic center.
Fact: Total debt will take 35 years to pay off.
(About $960 million!)
Fact: Sobrato building cost $100 million to build and was offered to the city for $162 million in 2002.
Fact: When the city did an alternative sites study in early 2002 at the request of Councilmember Reed, the city solicited and studied outside bids for roughly 12 other sites. NO BIDS were solicited for the existing city hall site! The authors of the city’s report applied the high costs of the Meier design building to their analysis of the existing city hall site and then rejected the alternative!!
(I’m not makink this up!)