The City of Gilroy has plans to demolish a dilapidated home and trailer that have been vacant for years at Christmas Hill Park.
The city will be accepting bids on Jan. 20 from contractors for the work that includes disposing of asbestos in the home.
The home sits next to the Miller Red Barn, which has been undergoing extensive work following a series of grants from Santa Clara County.
Richard Perino of the Miller Red Barn Association said the group has been working with the city for a few years to get the home and construction trailer removed, which have turned into a “hazard and eyesore.”
Over the years, vandals have stripped the home, which has attracted squatters. Photos from inside the home taken by inspectors show trash piled from floor to ceiling in some rooms, with evidence of a fire having sparked inside a bathroom.
The trailer on the property was once used by the Gilroy Garlic Festival, but has been rendered unusable due to heavy water damage.
According to a lead hazard report by Benchmark Environmental Engineering, the home was built in 1951. Perino estimated the home has been vacant since at least the late 1990s, when the City of Gilroy purchased the Ranch Site of Christmas Hill Park from the Filice family.
To view the call for bids, visit tinyurl.com/y4hy6bvu.
