The city’s temporary library will likely be housed in a spacious
downtown building near Monterey and Third streets that currently
houses Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero’s gym and Gilroy’s only auction house.
The city’s temporary library will likely be housed in a spacious downtown building near Monterey and Third streets that currently houses Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero’s gym and Gilroy’s only auction house.
The building at 7652 Monterey St. between Third and Fourth streets belongs to downtown developer Gary Walton. As Walton and city officials are still negotiating lease terms, they would not comment on the likely arrangement, but sources said it’s a foregone conclusion. The council will vote Oct. 19 on the location.
Construction crews will begin tearing down the library early next year to make way for its larger, eco-friendly replacement. Before then, the contents of the current library at 7387 Rosanna St. will be transferred over to the temporary location. On Monday, the city council directed City Administrator Tom Haglund to begin negotiating with Palo Alto-based Nova Partners as the new library’s construction manager.
Although he will have to relocate the Garlic City Auction House a couple blocks north on Monterey Street, owner Richie Chavarria said Wednesday he welcomed the library because it will boost foot traffic. The gym will move south to Sixth Street.
Chavarria also agreed to the deal because you can’t say no to Walton – a long-time and tireless actor in Gilroy’s revitalization effort – he said.
“He’s just the best, and always willing to accommodate,” Chavarria said as he organized chairs in preparation for his last auction, slated for 6 p.m. tonight. The “fire sale” will be his last since opening in the building’s rear a year ago with Walton’s blessing. Chavarria plans to unload everything from vintage baseball cards, life-size celebrity cut-outs, old horse spurs, action figures still in their boxes and other trinkets left over from estate sales and foreclosures. His warehouse, lit by fluorescent lights, looks like an amalgam of old families’ attics spanning the decades, and now it’s time to clean house.
“Anything we can do to help the downtown is always great,” Chavarria said.
Walton – the man who owns the Gaslighter Theater and who is also wrapping up construction on nearby condos and a Spanish tapas restaurant and bar in the Old City Hall building at the corner of Sixth and Monterey streets – agreed with Chavarria.
“My main goal has always been to get it downtown,” Walton said.
The temporary library will have about as many parking spaces as are available at the current library.
