GILROY
– If a plan to build a train museum on donated land ever becomes
a reality in Gilroy, it won’t be the city who will be asked to give
away downtown acreage.
GILROY – If a plan to build a train museum on donated land ever becomes a reality in Gilroy, it won’t be the city who will be asked to give away downtown acreage.
Rather, Union Pacific will have to make the generous offer since the “ideal” museum site – a 12-acre parcel immediately east of the train tracks of the existing Gilroy train depot at 7250 Monterey St. – is owned entirely by the largest railroad company in North America. The city, at best, only has easement rights where Ninth Street and other roads used to be.
In other words, Union Pacific’s desire to keep or sell the parcel could determine whether Gilroy’s push for a train museum stays on track or gets derailed. And, by all indication, the railroad giant is not a willing seller.
Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said his company is “not ready” to put the unused parcel on the market. Bromley said Union Pacific is aware of long-term plans by the Valley Transportation Authority calling for expanded commuter services to run through Gilroy to Hollister and Salinas.
“Gilroy could be a hot spot for commuter trains in the future,” Bromley said. “That makes us want to keep options for that land open.”
Mayor Tom Springer, a train enthusiast and a proponent of bringing a train museum to the downtown, remains hopeful.
“Union Pacific is not going to say it publicly, but they’d rather sell the property at its highest value,” which may mean changing the zoning, Springer said. “That may be a decision City Council needs to make.”
Currently, the Union Pacific property is zoned for commercial uses. Some of the acreage lies in an area that allows for business and residential use. The rest of the acreage lies in an area that allows for a broader spectrum of businesses, but no residential use.
Since the train museum only needs a maximum five acres, a third party may want to buy the remaining portion of Union Pacific’s 12 acres. How those acres are zoned, may determine how much the third party is willing to pay.
In theory, Union Pacific could get a tax deduction for donating five acres toward the museum and make a profit by selling the other seven acres. The sweeter the deal for Union Pacific, the likelier it is for a train museum to wind up in Gilroy.
“I see win-win situations for everybody in this,” Springer said.
Rod Diridon, the founder of the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation who is leading the museum effort, said expanded commuter services and a train museum are not mutually exclusive since there would be excess acreage.
Diridon, who has a San Jose train station named after him and is considered the “father” of Silicon Valley public transit, has been searching for a museum site ever since Santa Clara County told him he had to. The museum would house train artifacts, such as restored locomotives, a pre-deisel roundhouse and a water tower. The artifacts are currently stored at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds and are supposed to be moved out by November so the county can move forward with more lucrative plans for the high value property.
One idea is to build a hotel at the fairgrounds.
Although the city will not be donating any parcels, the November deadline puts Gilroy on a sort of timed competition with Santa Clara and San Jose to land the train museum.
Union Pacific owns at least a portion of all three Silicon Valley parcels under consideration for the museum.
The San Jose parcel is northeast of Kelly Park, which already holds some antique transit vehicles, and adjacent to the old Western Pacific right of way. The Santa Clara site is in the northern part of the city along the Milford branch of the Union Pacific railroad.
Because land prices are so high in San Jose and Santa Clara, Union Pacific appears reluctant to sell the parcels.
“My real estate people are telling me that sales in those areas to a museum would be doubtful,” Union Pacific spokeswoman Catherine Blackwell said. “The value of the property can range anywhere from $10 to $30 per square foot and we will not sell any property for less than our ledger value.”
The ledger value is the amount Union Pacific paid for the property, back in the ’90s.
Diridon said Wednesday that San Jose is currently putting a proposal together and Santa Clara has submitted a proposal to host the museum.
“It’s an attractive piece of land, but it’s not ideal,” Diridon said of the Santa Clara parcel.
Diridon said he has not ranked the sites since only one has submitted a formal proposal.
Diridon met with Springer, city planners, the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation and the Gilroy Visitors Bureau last week to discuss his museum idea.
As a result of last week’s meeting, Springer is authoring a letter from the city to Diridon confirming Gilroy’s interest in having the museum and its desire to place it east of the train depot. The issue also may be addressed at the next City Council meeting, Sept. 2.
Before city planners can devote much time to a train museum proposal that could lure Diridon, City Council must give some sort of conceptual OK.
“Something has been pitched to us, and it’s the Council that has to swing at that ball,” Planning Division Manager Bill Faus said.
