Tag: gilroy yamato hot springs

After more than a half a century of being closed, a group of volunteers is working to restore and reopen the Gilroy Yamato Hot...

Celebrate fall cowboy style

Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs celebrated the restoration and dedication of the newly restored Texas Cabin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 18.The Texas Cabin was built in the early 1920s utilizing elements from an earlier building on the same site. Built during the period in which Gilroy Hot Springs was owned and operated by the William J. McDonald family, the cabin provided four separate accommodations with two bathrooms. Later it housed Japanese families recovering from their time in internments camps during World War II.The Texas Cabin is one of the largest remaining cabins at Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs. The restoration was jointly funded by California State Parks and private donations with work completed by Southwest Construction and overseen by state parks staff.Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs can be toured by reservation only by calling (408) 314-7185 or e-mailing [email protected].

Cheers to the Santa Clara Valley Water District board and employees who recently negotiated new contracts that will save the agency $7.7 million over the life of the three-year contracts. Starting in April 2012, employees will contribute 15 percent of their health care premiums and pay an increase of 1.1 percent to 11 percent of contributions toward the California Public Employees Retirement System. And, new employees who start after Jan. 1 2012 will earn a rate of 2 percent of their salary for retirement plans, multiplied by their years of service at the age of 60. Current employees maintain the 2.5 percent at the age of 55. Employees will also lose a paid holiday, reducing them to 12 per year. Sick leave payouts upon retirement are capped at 480, with a 50 percent rate of the equivalent cash value.

The Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs lies out of sight amid steep, earthy embankments and lush wilderness hillsides, but plans are afoot for this ghostly shell of an aging 18th century jewel tucked away off Roop Road in the mountainous sanctuary of Henry W. Coe State Park, roughly 17 miles southeast of downtown Morgan Hill.