Put Gilroy’s downtown on the historical registry map and make history come alive
Dear Editor,
In spite of all the efforts of many people, Gilroy’s downtown is still in what my mother would have called “a bit of a state.”  I have heard it said that the City of Gilroy has done all that it can think of to repair and encourage the revitalization of downtown.  There is one thing, though, that the city has not done, and that is to use everything available to it to support the intent of the city ordinance establishing our local historic districts.  Downtown is one of those local historic districts.
“Oh, no!” you say. “Are you kidding?  Those old, unstylish, unmaintained, sad-looking, unsafe, wretched buildings that with a modest shake will fall down and kill someone?”
Well, let me put it this way. 
If you ripped down all the unreinforced masonry buildings on Monterey Street and left Old City Hall, the First National Bank building on the corner of Martin and Monterey, and the former Dick Bruhn’s – all the “polite” architecturally designed buildings – you would no longer have an historic district.  It would just be a downtown with three interesting buildings. On the other hand, if by some chance those three buildings were destroyed, and what was left were all those “vernacular” old buildings, they are together sufficient to put our downtown on the National Register of Historic Places. 
“So what!” you say. “ Who cares about that?  What’s it going to do for us?”
If you were on the top of a hill on the east side of Gilroy and were to look west out over the city, what parts of Gilroy would you see that you couldn’t find anyplace else in the rest of the country?
“Oh!” you say.  “What about our churches, schools, our government center and our fine new library?”
“Well,” I say, “put them in Forest Grove, Oregon, or in the middle of Iowa, or in East Topeka, Kansas and do you think those buildings would be recognized as native to Gilroy?  I don’t think so. They would look like they belonged in Oregon, or Iowa, or Kansas, or anywhere USA.
What we have that speaks to who we were, what we became, and how we are adapting to our own times are those 52 potentially up-scale buildings between 4th and 7th Streets,  22 of which are in need of financing to stabilize their facades so that loose masonry will not fall and hurt someone.  Downtown Gilroy is where we are uniquely us. 
Because we are so rich in buildings constructed between 1870 and the WWII, downtown has the opportunity to build a collective, defined identity that can be marketed. If downtown Gilroy can be designated as a National Historic District, it can be marketed as such. Believe me, people come for that stuff.
Yes, there needs to be money.  There’s no ignoring that fact. But having a clear idea about what one is raising money for should make raising money easier, if you have a focused marketable entity, and, a lot of collaborative thinking outside of the box.
Carol DeSantis, Gilroy

Previous articleLetter: Why are the rules being for Muslim center in San Martin?
Next articleHard to muster sympathy for this $45,000 fee case
This author byline indicates that the post was contributed by a member of the community.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here