Our History, Our Wealth

Yesterday was the first meeting of the city council in the new chambers on East Santa Clara Street.  It was an historic day. The new building is one that evokes much thought.

One of the more interesting aspects of the new city hall will be the selection of the art surrounding and decorating the building and the historical items that will be displayed throughout the interior.  I have high hopes for the latter and a bit less for the former.

San Jose’s record of timidity and downright stupidity in the selection and placement of public art is well known and well chronicled.  What is not so well known is that a process that seems so open is quite often one that results in a callow and frighteningly bland choice from the modern/eclectic brand of art. Little is recognizable from our past.  Real history is feared and avoided like a pestilence of old.

On the placement of historical artifacts and memorabilia in the new building, the many, many pieces in storage at the San Jose Historical Museum are beautiful and perfect to see the light of day. To let the people see some of our history will be a nice corollary to the return of city hall to the downtown.  Both are long overdue – about half a century to be exact.

Leading the history effort is Judge Paul Bernal, someone who loves history and whose family has made much of it in our valley.  He has been the city historian for a few years, but his appointment has been guarded like the secret map to Osama’s cave.  Under the auspices of Judge Bernal, many hope to see the first meaningful exposure of our history since the days of Clyde Arbuckle.  Let us also hope that someone has the good sense to call the phenomenal resources of “Mr. San Jose”, Leonard McKay, to help in creating this most important and lasting monument to how we evolved as a people and a city.

There are many ways to honor our history in the new city hall complex. I hope many out there will share their ideas at this time.

40 Comments

  1. I am curious from Tom, Judge Bernal, and everyone else, what is the value of having plans for the 230th birthday of San Jose, when the 250th is going to be celebrated as well.  If there is some elaborate planning for the 230th, why not the 235th, and the 240th, and 256th, and the 289th?

    I feel someone in the banner business is making a lot of money.

  2. Another vote for Quetzi in Gonzo’s office.  But can it PLEASE go with him when he leaves office?

    Mr. Rowen:  which of your birthdays do you decline to celebrate?

    JohnMichael O’Connor

  3. The more we can showcase the history of this town, the better.  Too much of it has been lost already and it would be nice to reveal the soul of this town that has been misplaced for so long.  Abandoning the mistake on First St is the perfect opportunity to embrace the past and demonstrate that at least before Dutch killed off downtown, there was a “there” here.

  4. What about the naming of the building?  As we already have the McEnery CC and the Mineta Airport, here are a few ideas.

    Susan Hammer—going to the Hammer Building has a certain allure.  But it may be better for a sports venue.

    Janet Gray Hayes—Some wags may believe this to be more appopriate as going to the “gray hayes” would seem appropriate for a building that houses such seriously clouded thinking.  But the first woman Mayor certainly deserves recognition.

    Jerry Estruth—a building with the word “truth” engraved right into it might be a good reminder to all who work there.

    Al Ruffo—certainly a deserving figure, but as he was opposed to the gift of city funds to build it—it would be too ironic.

    Corporate Name—we could sell the name to a Corporation.  Might signal a bad precedent though, as some already believe the inside of the building is for sale. 

    We could name it Pirayou, Strangis, DeRollo or Sagau, but they already call the entrance way “the Lobby”, which seems appropriate.

    Past City Managers Fran Fox or Les White, but we already have a Fox Theatre and many liberals loathe the Fox name.  And the “White” building has a myriad of politically incorrect problems with it.

    Ridder already has a building, Sobrato is everywhere.  Mike Fox, is deserving, but has the same problem as Fran. 

    Here is an idea, why don’t we hire a consultant, auditor, investigator or select a blue ribbon commission to determine the merits?  We’ve got to have an extra $250 thousand lying around somewhere.

  5. Fair questions, all.  I love birthdays, Santa Clara celebrated a 140th and 150th, my question is, let’s decide, and do it right, eh?

    There is a lot worth remembering, and yes, let’s remember the best of the past, there is an orchard somewhere worth preserving, despite a planning directors hrmphing about it.

  6. The art police have already struck. They removed a painting inside the Hall, because, although historically accurate, it had too many white people.

    As for naming the building for Les White. Some may think it raises too many politically incorrect issues, but not me. I would think of the White Building as I do the White Album. Neither should offend anyone.

  7. Notes from the Golden West.

    The old city hall was built at a time when sprawl was the way to go.  So city hall was not that impressive a structure.  Done in the drab, international style of the 1950s, it symbolizes that it less impressive than the growing city, and was meant to be the Dutch Hamman, management building.  The council and mayor were not, like the downtown, as important as the wide picture.

    Now, this new building, a tower of civic pride and achievement, built to symbolize San Jose as the new team in the big leagues.  It shoots up from the downtown area, challanging the bragging rights of the B of A building, and set off from San Jose State.  It is part of new metropolitan style very much like the other postmodern buildings of the new cities of our culture.

    Sprawl vs. The Metropolis.  Perhaps it should be called, the Metropolitan Square.

  8. Let’s get with the times and sell the naming rights to the highest bidder. Maybe SF can buy back some of its Bay Area dominance with “The San Francisco City Hall at San Jose”?

  9. Dear San Jose:

    Could have had two Sobrato buildings for $200 million dollars that would have provided more offfice space than needed by the city.  Add a tree lined plaza/courtyard and you would have had a city hall that we could all be proud of.  Instead, we have a $391 million hood ornament that was built too small.

    P.S.  Too much concrete, too few trees, grass, etc.

    And why was a private shower and bathroom built for the mayor’s office.  Such a perk belongs to corporate executives, not public servants.

    Pete Campbell

  10. Yeah Pete, and Sobrato would finally have a buyer for his albatross.
    I really can’t find fault with the concept of the Mayor of The 10th Largest City having his/her own loo. After all, there ought to be some kind of special status that comes with the job. wink

  11. Right on Mal.  I have no sympathy for fat cat Sobrato being stuck with an empty and boring building.  If he’s so loaded that he could pay cash for this thing and then let it sit, then he can well afford to hire a decent architect with some vision for his next office tower downtown to make up for this office/jail looking thing he stuck us with.

  12. Is this City Historian position an official or honorary one?  I am not sure how it is awarded or what the criteria is.

    Does anyone, including Falling Down Fallon’s
    shadow know?

  13. Some of you folks should be on the City Council with your narrow view and lack of vision. The point is not if Sobrato is stuck with and empty building or not, its that this building surpassed the needs of the city, was already built, was actually downtown, was located on an already running transit system, would not be maxxed out on space by the time people moved in, etc. etc. Oh yeah, and it would have cost a lot less than the hidden costs of the current new City Hall. Yeah, your right—probably a bad idea.

  14. Gotta disagree with Mark T—I think The Sobrato Building is by far the best looking in S JAY.  So what buildings do you like, Mark T?

    Architecture aside, The Sobrato Building is also far more accessible than The Taj Gonzal, and it would fit far more city employess than the Ron Mahal.  If y’all recall, the new building was sold as a way to put all city employees in one place.  In fact, fewer than 20% of them will be there.  Al Ruffo must be rolling over in his grave.

    JohnMichael O’Connor

  15. Looking, the idea of snapping up an empty building for a new City Hall just because it’s there is ridiculous.  This is the type of thinking that makes SJ such a boring and uninteresting town.  Isn’t anyone getting it that this town needs more interesting architecture and that City Hall simply doesn’t belong in a shell that was built on speculation because the timing happened to be right?  They might as well have stayed on N. 1st St. with that sort of thinking.  The new CH has a presence that is striking, whether you like the architecture or not.  I have mixed feelings about it but am waiting for the finished product before giving it a thumbs up or down.  And what sort of access to transit does the Sobrato building have that the new CH doesn’t?  A bus line?  The new CH isn’t much further from the trolley than Sobrato’s.
    John, saying Sobrato’s building is the best in SJ isn’t saying much at all.  There are very few buildings in this town that offer any architectural interest.  The old Wells Fargo (Garden City) Bank building where our pals at Knight Ridder are now located was not only a significant architectural structure but was also the site of the first radio broadcast and commercial radio station KQW which later became KCBS.  Torn down.  It’s a wonder the old B of A building is still standing.  There isn’t a “high rise” in this town that’s worth a second glance except the new CH since it actually had some thought behind its design.  I said it here a long time ago:  something as dramatic as the Disney Concert Hall in LA would never happen in SJ.  Nobody in charge around here has the guts to approve something like that.  The Council needs to demand better of every high rise project that’s on the drawing boards and insist on bold and daring architecture that will give this town a personality.  Something that will be recognized and associated with San Jose the world over.  Sobrato’s building falls miserably short in that regard.  Yawn.

  16. Judge Bernal’s secret appointment as City Historian may in fact provide some meaningful exposure of our history as Tom has hinted – but maybe not what he was expecting. Bernal family legend says that it was a Bernal woman that cut down the American flag that Dr. Santiago (James) Stokes, an English immigrant and Mexican citizen, had hoisted above San Jose’s Juzgado as written by Fallon to Montgomery 7/12/1846. Rumor has it that Thomas Fallon volunteered to get another one from Commodore Sloat in Monterey because he heard that Sloat’s supply ship Erie had a huge supply of beer, but the historic record implies that Thomas Cole was paid $168 to carry the replacement flag and related dispatches to San Jose from Monterey. It was Stokes (who was married to Maria Josefa de los Delores Soto y Alviso) who was handed over the keys to the San Jose Archives (and jail) on July 14 after (Fallon and his men) raised the replacement American flag (Bancroft 1886).

  17. Rumor has it that some people think the design of the new city hall, and by the way, the Sobrato Building looks quite nice, as the new Vendome building looks quite nice, looks like a wood planer.

  18. Mark T:

    The better access to the Sobrato Building vs. The Taj Gonzal is the relative proximity to RTE. 87.  Access to public transit is inconsequential.  Contractors wanting to go to planning or building depts. don’t come by public transit.  People coming to Council meetings almost never come by public transit.  Who in god’s name comes to city hall by public transit, Mark T? The VERY few who do have no other choice.  Most people coming to city hall drive.  So, why don’t you sit down some weekday on Santa Clara Street and observe what a slow going it is already.  The Sobrato Building (Oh, by the way, what is it that you have against the Sobrato family?? Their welath and success?) is close to Rte. 87 and has parking in the building and across the street.

    Mark T.—the very fact that you consider access to city hall by public transit some important criterion leads me to suspect you’re one of those guys who thinks we ought to have BART to SJC…in the face of BART to SFO being a monumental expense and a monumental ridership failure.  Access is important, but most access is by private car.  The Sobrato Building is a clear winner over the location of our new city hall.

    I do not believe the Sobrato Building is a good choice for city hall because it’s there and empty.  I believe so because it fits better into what city halls are now—NOT monuments to architechts and politicians, but instead places where lots of people do business.  Most of those people in this part of the world don’t get there by bus.  They drive and want to park close, and not have several blocks to traverse where all the lights are designed such that you cannot get through any two of them consecutively.

    I won’t debate building design at length, since it’s a bit personal, just like art.  But for convenience to the public the city is supposed to serve, the location of our new city hall just doesn’t cut it. The Sobrato Building does.

    John Michael O’Connor

  19. John, I do not consider public transit a major issue for either Sobrato’s building or the new CH.  I was responding to Looking Down’s statement that Sobrato’s is located on “an already running transit system”  which, like you, I feel is hardly a selling point considering the transit system in question.  I have nothing against the Sobratos.  I just have zero sympathy for a guy who has the pocket change to build something like he did—on speculation mind you—and can afford to let it sit empty, and absolutely don’t think there is any civic responsibility to rush to fill it.  He’s not going to let it become an eyesore while it sits there unoccupied.  It’s a statement about the local economy and about Sobrato’s conviction to hold out for a single corporate tennant, but that’s all.  Of course I’d like to see that building full and bringing more people downtown.  But when was the last time anyone heard of a city of reasonable size shopping around for an existing, more or less standard issue office building (my opinion) to be used as a City Hall?  It just doesn’t work that way, and well it shouldn’t.  I’m a practical guy, but even I have to draw the line somewhere, and Sobrato’s—or any other existing office tower in town—is not an appropriate choice for a City Hall.  Just my opinion John, and that’s what this blog is all about.

  20. http://www.ti.org/vaupdate32.html

    Lightrail is a disaster. 

    The fact that it continues to be expanded is bordering on scandal to the point you want an investigation into who’s pockets are getting lined   by the perpetuation of such a failed system.

    Pull the lightrail plug already.  Put the money into buses that are cost effective and go where people need to go.

  21. Thanks for focusing on just one of many points as to why the Sobrato building would be a better choice for City Hall. Public transit proximity was one of many reasons why the current location is a poor choice, but it was mentioned because the folks in the tower have used it as a reason why the current location is a better one. I agree that few people will use public transit to get to CH but leaders believe not only will locals use it but people will be flocking to CH from around the world to see this “marvel.” The air is VERY thin on the upper floors so that could explain some of this nonsense (except most of the nonsense was uttered before the move to the tower.) See ya on on LRT (yeah, right.)

  22. The Sobrato building would offer one advantage. City officials could look out the window and see the deplorable condition of 280 through downtown. Then maybe they could get off their collective behinds and push Sacto to fix that freeway!
            Mal (The Original)

  23. Well now, this is interesting…I just noticed that somebody stole my handle in post #18.
    I guess Larry Stone was right, there are a lot of malcontents posting on San Jose Inside!

  24. The new city hall and the riverpark are the best things to happen in downtown San Jose, along with the Grand Prix.  Isn’t downtown SJ the best in the country?  Oh, don’t forget the extreme game coming up in Sept..

  25. Hey Original Mal,

    I think the folks in Oakland finally got Cal Trans off their collective butts to clean up their act by filing suit.  And they’re fixing the pavement on 280 right now.  Our winners at City Hall should have lead the way on this as the conditions around interchanges here with all the trash and weeds make it look like, well, Oakland.

  26. “Isn’t downtown SJ the best in the country?” Must be some good stuff you’re smoking, Gary. The best in the country?? Hope you are working for ConVis.

  27. Dear San Jose:

    In the end, it doesn’t matter what city hall looks like, what matters is what it does.

    More than a rumor going around that the city will serve as its own landlord on the new building, charging “rent” to itself by taking out of each department’s budget that is located in the building!

    If this proves to be true, it would be a clear violation of Measure I which stated explicitly that money was not to be taken from existing programs.

    I don’t care if people think that the building is pretty or not, the law should matter!

    Pete Campbell

  28. Pete

    I favored Measure I, but if you think something was done wrong, why not ask the actual opponents of Measure I, Warner, Chavez Napoli, and some others I did not agree with on this.

    I mean I cannot see a Reed of documentation in what the opposition you have to the project.

  29. Yo Mark T-
      You don’t suppose it’s all part of a master plan to push BART? If all the freeways fall apart BART starts looking better and better.
      Pete-While I agree that it’s what happens inside city hall that matters most, it’s refreshing to see a downtown building that shows some design creativity. San Jose needs more domes, angles and visually interesting eye-poppers and fewer boxes with windows.
                          O. Mal

  30. Mal, thanks for echoing my sentiments about the current dowtown skyline.  The Council needs to stop rubber stamping formula office boxes that look like they’ve been designed by some overly disciplined and under-creative Cal Poly graduate who can’t think outside the . . . er . . . box.

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