My friend and I were talking the other day. We thought that if
the old city hall ever becomes available and nothing is in there,
it would be a great idea to move museum there.
“My friend and I were talking the other day. We thought that if the old city hall ever becomes available and nothing is in there, it would be a great idea to move museum there. The museum is a little crowded and small. Because the city hall is so historical and all that beautiful stuff in the museum is so wonderful, it would be great to put it in a nice, nice place. Just a suggestion. Maybe the city would like to think about that at some time.”
Red Phone: Dear Sands Of Time, The idea of moving the museum to the old historical city hall building on Monterey Street that currently houses the Lizarran Tapas Restaurant has been tossed around before. Both the old city hall and the museum are landmarks in the city.
The current museum building, built in 1910 by renown architect William Weeks, served as the Carnegie Library before housing a treasure trove of Gilroy’s past for more than 50 years.
Both buildings have their drawbacks, said Museum Lead Tom Howard, who used to wind the clock in the old city hall building when it was still working. The biggest drawback of the old city hall is the cost it takes to heat and cool the building, he said.
“When you have a museum, you have to have controlled environment,” Howard said. “Since heat rises, it gets really warm upstairs. Here we have a smaller facility, but it’s easier to control.”
There could also be problems with the weight of the items being stored upstairs in the building, which has suffered earthquake damage, and many items in the museum’s collection couldn’t be housed downstairs because of its public nature, Howard said.
One advantage to the old city hall building is that it has access for the disabled that the current museum doesn’t have, Howard said.
The museum recently received a Conservation Assessment Program grant to cover the cost of evaluating the current building. A conservation assessor recently visited the museum, and an architectural assessor was there Wednesday. The museum expects to have the final report by the end of June, Howard said.
“They’re looking at what the building might need and how it can be kept healthy,” he said.
So while the city has talked about moving the museum in the past, there appears to be no plans in the near future to switch locations.
