GILROY—For the first time since its demolition was halted in 2006 and again in 2014, supporters of an old barn in Christmas Hill Park finally entered the structure they’ve been rallying to save.
Advocates for the Red Barn, who estimate it was built over 100 years ago, gained access Tuesday to inspect its structural integrity and determine what needs to be done to preserve it.
There was strong anticipation about what was inside the barn as city parks supervisor Bill Headley unlocked the gates and peeled open its doors.
The barn’s supporters found a structure in better shape than they initially thought, and they say it won’t cost much money to fix.
But there was a palpable frustration that the city let the barn deteriorate to its current condition.
“It’s a beautiful old structure. It makes me sad it’s gotten to this point,” said Kathy Chavez, who with other volunteers formed the Save the Red Barn Committee and has been raising funds for the barn’s revival.
Committee members and two structural engineers stood outside the building after touring inside for over an hour. Chavez was in tears as she surveyed the barn, while engineers spoke optimistically about its future.
“I have goosebumps. This is awesome,” she said, wiping tears away with a gloved hand.
An engineer with Morgan Hill-based MG Construction said Tuesday the first step is to fix the corrugated metal roof and clean the structure out completely. Waste from the barn’s occupants—bats, birds and feral cats—covers the ground, but supporters say it’s not as bad as they expected.
Signs from decades past, when the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association used the Red Barn for storage, still sit inside.
“It’s hard being a preservationist sometimes,” said Gary Walton, with the committee. “A lot of people can’t see beyond what’s in front of them.”
He pointed to Gilroy’s “abysmal” track record for preserving historic structures, saying, “The only time something gets saved is when the community stands up, only when there’s outrage.”
Gilroy planning commissioner and contractor Steve Ashford, who was at the Red Barn on Tuesday, argued that if the city was concerned about the animal waste inside, it would have done something about it by now. The barn wouldn’t still be sitting with roof panels missing, he said.
Headley told the Dispatch he understands the committee’s frustrations and called their effort a “noble thing to do.”
“They want to get stuff done, and in their lifetime,” he said. “Just because we don’t have the revenue [to fix it up] doesn’t mean we’re ignoring it; it’s not that it’s not important. We have to prioritize our resources.”
Still, he said he was elated to see the barn get another shot.
Headley, who has been with the city since the 1970s, said he remembers the Red Barn when it was part of a working ranch, as recently as the 1980s. Even earlier, Headley said there was a cattle ranch where Ascension Solorsano Middle School sits today, a stone’s throw from the barn.
But the city has no real use for the structure now, according to Headley.
The Red Barn stands as a symbol of Gilroy’s agricultural heritage, one its supporters argue is worth preserving. They believe it was built on land belonging to Henry Miller, a cattle baron who owned property in many Western states.
Walking through the barn for the first time Tuesday, committee member Richard Perino shared memories of his San Martin barn, while Chavez eyed the barn’s hardware, impressed with the craftsmanship inside the structure she estimates was erected in 1891.
“When people look at these barns, it evokes emotion,” Walton said. “We’re losing these all over California. It’s part of our state’s history, and it’s part of Gilroy’s history.”
The city’s plan to raze the barn—approved in 2006—was put off because the city lacked the money to do so during the recession, according to Headley.
Another attempt to level the barn and a boarded-up ranch house on the property was stopped in 2014, after the Red Barn’s supporters asked the city council to call off the bulldozers and give them time to develop a plan to preserve it.
Prior to the move to halt demolition, the city council unanimously approved spending $104,563 to take it, a nearby modular trailer and ranch house down.
