GILROY
– Silicon Valley’s
”
father
”
of modern transit service has put Gilroy on a list of three
cities that could become the permanent home for his latest pet
project
– the Santa Clara County Railroad Museum.
GILROY – Silicon Valley’s “father” of modern transit service has put Gilroy on a list of three cities that could become the permanent home for his latest pet project – the Santa Clara County Railroad Museum.
So far, the museum that could draw more than 200,000 people to downtown every year has the support – and at the very least the interest of – the mayor, the president of the historical society and the executive directors of the Economic Development Corporation and the Visitors Bureau.
Rod Diridon – a former Santa Clara County Supervisor and founder of the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation briefed city officials Tuesday morning on plans to relocate a number of historical train artifacts – from restored locomotives to authentic roundhouses – to a new railroad museum. Diridon, who has a San Jose train station named after him, is looking for an interested city to donate land for the museum. The cost of building the museum and refurbishing its antique attractions would be undertaken by California Trolley and Railroad Corporation volunteers.
“Gilroy is such a natural fit,” Diridon said Monday, echoing the sentiments of many city leaders who believe the museum is the kind of attraction Gilroy needs to make downtown revitalization a reality.
“There is a big piece of land there with a spur to the railroad tracks, and that’s very attractive,” Diridon said regarding a city-owned parcel just east of the train depot. The Gilroy train depot is at 7250 Monterey St.
The railroad spur is important to make possible Diridon’s vision of special occasion train rides in the refurbished cars.
In order for the museum to come to Gilroy, City Council must be willing to give the vacant parcel to Diridon at no cost, allowing him to use the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation’s limited funds on museum construction and artifact refurbishing.
“It’s going to be a beautiful facility – we’re going to build it with used brick – and it will undoubtedly draw visitors from all around into the downtown who will frequent the shops and restaurants there,” Diridon said Monday. “But this is in the very early exploratory stages.”
If tourism increases as much as Diridon says it will, the city could see another benefit – a rise in sales tax revenue.
In recent days, Campbell and Milpitas fell out of contention as potential museum sites since those two cities do not have available land near the train tracks. Only San Jose and Santa Clara are still in the running.
On Monday, Diridon indicated that it is really down to just Gilroy and San Jose. Diridon says the property Santa Clara pointed him to is “not in an ideal location.” He did not elaborate on the problems with the Santa Clara location.
All aboard
News of Diridon’s interest in Gilroy was welcomed by many in town Monday.
“There are a lot of railroad buffs around who would come to the museum,” said Bill Lindsteadt, executive director of the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation.
Lindsteadt should know. He is a railroad buff himself whose father worked on railroads all of his 45-year career.
“It’s a nice enhancement to historical downtown. It’s certainly better than a gravel field,” Lindsteadt said.
Connie Rogers, the president of the Gilroy Historical Society, said the city – which has a locomotive on its flag – a logical spot for the museum.
“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.”
The news was especially welcomed by Kristin Carr, executive director of the Gilroy Visitors Bureau. Carr was on the losing side of a recent battle to keep a health care clinic from moving into the Garlic Festival Store building, which downtown activists saw as an example of the type of retail shop that could bring Monterey Street back to life.
“It would be a wonderful thing for downtown revitalization,” Carr said of the train museum. “We deserve something like this. We’ve taken a great pride in our train history as evidenced by our efforts to refurbish the train stop.”
Carr may be right. Pat DeLeon, who owns a model train shop in Gilroy called All Aboard Junction, says he would likely move from his First Street and Westwood Drive site to downtown or rent space in the museum if the facility came here.
“That’d be ideal,” the native Gilroyan said of the potential museum. “It’d help everybody, not just my store.”
Where is it now?
The artifacts that will eventually make up the museum’s content are currently in pieces and in storage at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Originally, the railroad artifacts – which include a pre-diesel era roundhouse, a water tower, a turntable and old train tracks – were going to be put on display there. However, last year the county changed its mind and decided to develop the valuable fairgrounds land in a more profitable way.
One plan is for the area to become a hotel.
“The county would like to see us move everything out by November,” Diridon said. “We’re in the beginning stages, but it is fair to say we need to move quickly.”
A former Southern Pacific Railroad steam locomotive is to be the center point of the Santa Clara County Railroad Museum.
Last used for passenger service between San Jose and San Francisco, the locomotive was donated to Santa Clara County in 1957. The locomotive is currently undergoing an extensive restoration by California Trolley and Railroad Corporation volunteers at the fairgrounds.
