Bachelder 'Dutch Boy' tiles were reproduced as part of the restoration of the Rotary Ryland Pool.

Near-downtown residents got together today to celebrate the completion of historical restoration work on the Rotary Ryland Pool at Ryland Park in the Vendome neighborhood. Vendome Neighborhood Association president Tina Morrill presented restored tilework on the pool, as well as educational signage, a commemorative plaque, and a new sign for the entry to the pool.

The pool was originally built in the 1920’s, featuring the Batchelder “Dutch Boy” tiles around its perimeter wall. These tiles were later painted over, probably in the 1970’s. What’s worse, to make the paint adhere better, the tiles were sandblasted, eliminating their original glaze and much of their relief pattern.

In 2006, when the city of San Jose wanted to close the pool, the public outcry, massive efforts by a small group of volunteers, and $1.4 million in funding came together to save it. The pool reopened last summer, but the historical restoration work continued over the past year.

Reproduction Dutch Boy tiles were produced from a mold taken from a 1920’s era Batchelder tile found at an out-of-state antique tile dealer. A commemorative plaque was installed, recognizing the contribution of the Rotary Club in donating the original pool and funding the recent restoration work. An education placard was also posted, explaining the restoration proces, and also hopefully making the point that historic resources should not be treated as cavalierly as the pool and its tiles once were. Finally, a new sign was added at the entry to the pool, designed by Northsider Sonya Lu and fabricated by Brian’s Welding, just down the street from the park.

The new entryway sign at Ryland Pool.

75th Anniversary Poster

Before my parents made the big move to the Bay Area at the end of 1959, we lived a good number of years in Modesto, Ca. Many homes back then didn’t have air-conditioning. Our rental house, on Paradise Road, didn’t even have a swamp cooler to help us deal with the blistering hot days of valley summer. One way my friends and I survived was by learning to swim in the canal. But, by far the best was convincing a parent to give us a ride into town to an air-cooled movie theater where music played as we settled in our seats opening boxes of Good and Plenty.

Sadly two of the movie houses, The Strand and The Covell, were lost to urban redevelopment, but I was overjoyed to learn that the third was saved and refurbished in all its art deco glory. The State Theatre now plays host to both film and live performances.

The Third Annual Modesto Reel Food Film Festival
Sunday – September 27
2 PM
The State Theatre - 307 J Street, Modesto
For Tickets call (209) 527-4697
($10 ticket price includes snacks from local restaurants.)

If it was buying or, “Just looking, thank you.”, I enjoyed car shopping with my dad. I was very disappointed that day, in 1955, when he picked the valley-green/raven-black two-tone Pontiac over the dreamy blue and white Chevy. My mom tells me that they were very proud of it. But green and black? It was better than the, what I found, odd looking 40’s car in which my cousin had to ride. Poor Uncle Joe had an old Packard.

A collection of antique Packards will be on display outside of the restored 1944 Leland Cerruti/Howard Gustin Packard dealership building.

The Alameda Business Association open house includes tours of the renovated colonial style building, and refreshments.

Wednesday, September 2
5:30PM to 7:30PM
Presentation @ 6:00PM
865 The Alameda, San Jose – 95126 (@ Rhodes Court)

In 1774 wild cattle wandered under giant willows and through blackberries that grew in a swampy area that is now known as Willow Glen. As I try to fall asleep I rather imagine my bed among the fruit trees that flourished here in 1948.

To see what was once where your bed is now try Historic Aerials (can be slow to load). Put in your address, zoom in, zoom out or pan the image. I enjoyed looking at our valley in 1956 with ‘Major Roads’ on, to see where the freeways of the future would be. To get a look at Park Ave. as it runs through what is now Plaza De Cesar Chavez Park use 170 S Market St 95113 (The Fairmont Hotel). Panning the image can be a bit fussy and slow, but it is a good way to navigate to a spot if the address is not known. Set it to 1948, zoom out – pan around our valley and just look at the orchards.

Guru's Market today.

I was recently pointed at a discussion thread on Yelp!, on the topic of the proposed Little Italy district somewhere near downtown San Jose. The post that caught my eye was near the top, where Anthony B. says “Gurus liquor store was the first grocery store in San Jose, Jeoy Francos PW, and it was Italian owned.” Earlier investigation had led to the information that the Guru’s Liquor building was built in 1934 by the same contractor who had earlier built my house, back in the 1910’s; so I wanted to find out if he had really also built San Jose’s first grocery store, and started the Joey Franco’s chain that’s still around today.

Unfortunately, it turns out Anthony B.’s claim isn’t quite true, but there is an interesting story connecting the building and the Franco family.

First, this wasn’t a Joey Franco’s PW Market. As the story is told on the PW Markets community page, Joey Franco started out in the grocery business working for his cousins, the brothers Henry and Joseph Franco, at their Franco Brothers Markets. The 13th and Washington Street store was one of theirs, and it was known as Franco’s 13th Street Market.

Second, this wasn’t the first grocery store in San Jose. It wasn’t even Franco Brothers’ first store. Visiting the California Room at the San Jose Public Library to review the old city directories, I found out that as early as 1925 they had a store on Santa Clara Street. It might have moved in the interim, but in 1932 they were located at 5th and Santa Clara, a site that is now, I guess, buried beneath City Hall. One of the key selling points was their own “$25,000 Ice Cream Factory”. They built the 13th Street store in 1934, and by 1945 they had added a third store on The Alameda. They were still listed in the directory in 1950, but by 1960 Franco Brothers were out of business.

So, what’s now Guru’s Market and Liquors wasn’t actually San Jose’s first grocery, and it wasn’t Joey Franco’s PW Market; but it was Italian-owned and in the Franco family. And that’s still a nice piece of San Jose history to keep in mind.

Franco's Thirteenth Street Market, circa 1945.

Our own San Jose Repertory Theatre is a really beautiful venue, even more so inside than out.  They also generously support our community and youth, and are a huge contributor to the Cinequest Film Festival.  San Jose would not be such a fun place to live without the Repertory Theatre.

However, upon exiting the balcony from a recent show that I attended, I happened to look down at the steps and was shocked at the condition of the carpet.  Threadbare, dull and worn, it really showed the effects of having thousands and thousands of feet walking through over the years.  It was so disappointing to see how worn it was, and it really takes away from the great beauty of the rest of the building.

So I was surprised and very happy to hear that the SJ Rep has received a Challenge Grant to remedy this exact problem!  Emeritus Board member John Michael Sobrato has pledged to pay half the cost of new carpet if The Rep can bring in the other half with contributions.  This is a very generous gift, and one I hope will not be missed.  In even more wonderful news, The Rep has already raised one third of the matching funds.  The other 2/3 must be raised by June 30, 2009, and despite their very generous regular donors, they need funds specific to this fundraising goal.

Offers as generous as this don’t come around very often.  It is my sincere hope that although we are all in some very tough times, the people of the South Bay can help pitch in to take advantage of this offer.  If you could contribute just five dollars it would be so appreciated.  If you could contribute $20 or $50 it would bring them even closer to their goal.  They only have one month to collect donations in order to receive this Challenge Grant; I hope we can all pull together and help The Rep achieve this goal.

Time is of the essence.

Please contact Development Associate Janet Herrington to make a donation to this cause.  She can be reached at 408-367-7264 or JanetH@sjrep.com. 

The neighborhood of Hanchett Park will host its first first Historic Homes Tour on Saturday. Hanchett Park was developed as a residence park in the early 20th century. Today, the area still has some of San Jose’s best preserved historic homes.

The tour theme is “Preservation and Inspiration”, and the tour features five homes reflecting an “eclectic mix of architecture and lifestyles.”

When: Saturday, May 30. 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Where: Purchase same day tickets at 1265 Sierra Ave., San Jose. Addresses of Tour homes are provided on your ticket. Purchase advanced tickets at Silver Leaf Antiques (1343 The Alameda), Willow Glen Home and Garden (1123 Lincoln Avenue), or online.

Price: $21 per person in advance. $25 on tour day.

John Morris, a member of the family who founded Mervyns, may be planning to revive the chain. It would be good to see the now empty stores back up on their feet – fresh paint, new fixtures, quality goods, and happy employees.

If you’ve noticed the old rotating neon sign for Food Bowl on McKee Ave has been dismantled, and been worried it’ll be demolished, I hope this will reassure you. Although the shopping center owners have basically remodelled the facade of the store itself to death, the city required to keep the sign with its vintage googie look.

Here’s hoping the owners will actually follow through, and not find a way to work around the city requirements, or ust leave the project half-done until the sign collapses in a heap of rust.

This house, formerly home to Tommie Smith, is soon to be renovated by its current owner. The owner, Brian Boguess, spoke last night at the 13th Street Neighborhood Advisory Committee meeting to describe his plans. The house will be moved closer to the street and a second story is to be added. In addition a second building with three apartments will be added on the back part of the property. However, to preserve some vestige of the original house, which the city considers a significant historic structure, the existing facade will be retained, although only as a portion of the face of the new larger building. Boguess seemed very enthusiastic about both making this house (which under recent former owners and tenants was known to neighbors as a problematic home to drug dealers) an asset to its neighborhood, and preserving the historical connection with Tommie Smith.

Smith was a San Jose State track star and Olympian at the 1968 Mexico City Games. When he won the 200 meters (in world record time) and teammate John Carlos took the bronze medal, they made history by giving the black power salute from the medal podium. In response to their actions, the U. S. Olympic team suspended Smith and Carlos. Besides showing his courage in standing up for civil rights, Smith was also an exceptional athlete, at one time holding 11 world records in track and field simultaneously. Later, he taught and coached at Oberlin College in Ohio. He is one of San Jose’s historic heroes.

San Jose Metblogs previously wrote about Smith’s history in San Jose and the Tommie Smith and John Carlos statue on the SJSU campus.