What a great idea
– a railroad museum in downtown Gilroy. We’re enthused about the
prospect that Rod Diridon, former Santa Clara County supervisor,
founder of the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation and
”
father
”
of Silicon Valley public transit, is considering putting a
railroad museum in Gilroy.
What a great idea – a railroad museum in downtown Gilroy. We’re enthused about the prospect that Rod Diridon, former Santa Clara County supervisor, founder of the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation and “father” of Silicon Valley public transit, is considering putting a railroad museum in Gilroy.
“There is a big piece of land (just east of the train depot) with a spur to the railroad tracks, and that’s very attractive,” Diridon told reporter Eric Leins.
What would it take to make the museum a reality in Gilroy? The city would need to donate a vacant lot adjacent to the railroad tracks to the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation. We think that’s something the city should make happen posthaste.
A beautiful railroad museum in downtown Gilroy would have numerous benefits. It would add to the many tourist attractions – Bonfante Gardens, the Outlets, the wineries – already in town and draw more visitors to our community. Tourism is an economically friendly industry that will add to the city’s sales and hotel occupancy tax collections and bring visitors to a wide variety of local businesses.
The railroad museum would be another step toward revitalizing Gilroy’s beleaguered downtown. It’s hard to quibble with transforming a vacant gravel-covered lot in a dubious location next to railroad tracks by building a handsome museum out of used brick.
Anyone who has visited the railroad museum in Old Town Sacramento knows what an opportunity – educational and economic – this is.
“It’s going to be a beautiful facility … and it will undoubtedly draw visitors from all around into the downtown who will frequent the shops and restaurants there,” Diridon said. “But this is in the very early exploratory stages.”
A railroad museum fits in with Gilroy’s history as a crossroads – a fact not lost on Connie Rogers, president of the Gilroy Historical Society.
“We’ve always been a crossroads town with (Pacheco and Hecker) passes and being right along El Camino Real,” Rogers said. “Trains came to Gilroy just before we became a city (in 1870). This is a very historic spot.”
At this point, we can’t find a downside to Diridon’s proposal. We urge the City Council and the Economic Development Commission to work in concert with Diridon to lay the track for this attractive possibility.
A railroad museum for downtown Gilroy seems to be a perfect fit. Who knows what could follow – maybe even weekend Caltrain service.
