Jan 22, 2004

Almaden’s historic Opry House slated for destruction

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

New Almaden’s historic Opry House theater may soon be nothing but a memory. Attached to Casa Grande, home of the Quicksilver Mining Museum, the Opry House was a dance hall for miners in the 1920s, and a theater for local residents until 1998. On Dec. 16, the Santa Clara County board of supervisors voted in favor of its removal rather than its restoration.

The crux of the issue centers on a state grant of $200,000 and determining which portions of Casa Grande and the Opry House are of historical significance. There is a difference of opinion on the issue, and the subject remains an emotional for individuals—including members of the New Almaden Quicksilver County Parks Association (NAQCPA) and the New Almaden Community Association—who care about preserving the Opry House.

Kitty Monahan, president of NAQCPA, doesn’t understand why anyone would want to destroy a piece of New Almaden’s history. “Why? Why would they tear it down?” she sighs. “In California, 50 years is of historic significance,” states Monahan. “They say the mining operation was significant until 1912, when they stopped using mercury (quicksilver) to amalgamate gold, but a mine manager lived at Casa Grande until around 1902, and mining went on in this area from 1845 until 1976.”

In 1997, Casa Grande and its six acres of gardens were purchased by the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department. Mark Frederick, manager of planning, development and real estate with the Parks Department, does not believe that the recently modified Opry House is of historic value. He is in favor of removing it, and utilizing the state’s grant money to restore the original Casa Grande structure. “When we look at historic renovation, we look at the history of the structure, choose its most historically significant period, and try to emulate it,” Frederick says, noting that the siding was added to the Opry House in the 1970s, and the downstairs bar in the 1980s. “From a historical perspective,” he observes, “only the framing and flooring are original. The rest of the building was added after 1940. The question is, does it really have historical significance since it was modified and changed so much over the years?”

Frederick notes that New Almaden is a designated a Historical Landmark District based upon its mining history, and Casa Grande reflects this history because it was owned by the mining company through 1925. He allows that the local community is interested in retaining the Opry House theater for performances and events, but his vision is to return Casa Grande to its earlier structural integrity. Included in the restoration would be replacing the plaster over the deteriorating exterior bricks, replacing the newer windows with their historical design, repairing the hallways, replacing the historical rear staircase, replacing the roof, and restoring the veranda fully around the building.

“Downstairs at the Opry House is a beautiful bar, and sitting room with a fireplace,” Monahan observes. “If they take out the Opry House, they’d have to take that out too, which would be a real waste. It’s a perfect meeting place, lecture hall, and space for performances and class tours. The Parks Department says if they tear it down, they will build us another one, but why tear it down? Just fix it up.”

Initially, the Santa Clara County board of supervisors received two alternative proposals regarding the restoration of Casa Grande and the Opry House theater. According to the meeting minutes, the first option “proposes to leave the existing footprint and all appurtenant structures developed during the life of the building,” and the second “proposes to restore the building to the period of historical significance...to its configuration during the mine manager’s residency (1890-1900), requiring the removal of the Opry House and bar.” The Parks and Recreation Department was in favor of removing the Opry House, following the recommendations of a state and federal report. However, the Board initially decided to retain the Opry House, following the community’s wishes.

The Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department then received a letter from the state warning that if they didn’t remove the Opry House, the $200,000 grant money deemed for the restoration of Casa Grande would be revoked, based upon their historic structures report. “We returned to the Board to let them know the situation,” Frederick states. Due to its limited resources, when board members learned that the grant money was at stake, they reversed their previous decision and voted unanimously that the Opry House theater should go.

“The first option for the state of California is to take what you have and restore it,” says Monahan. “Option two is to pick a period of historic significance. I don’t understand why the state, that had given them $200,000 for the restoration of this building, would take it back if we opted for their first option. When the consultant first created the options, tearing it down would cost as much as restoring it, and the board agreed to restore it.” According to Frederick, due to the Opry House’s electrical wiring not meeting current fire codes, it would actually cost more to restore the building.

Monahan is frustrated at the lack of information she has received from the Parks Department. “The day that the Board of Supervisors was to review this at their meeting, we were supposed to call in to have it taken off as a consent item in order to discuss it further,” she states, “but by the time we heard about it from Frederick, it was too late. We didn’t think it was going to come up for another couple of months.” Frederick says that he only had a week’s notice that the issue was to go before the Board, but that he did inform Monahan of the meeting date.

Monahan says that she has yet to hear the board’s decision. She is still awaiting that phone call from the Parks Department. However, whatever the outcome, she remains resolved to fight to save the Opry House. “Once I find out the Board’s decision, then we’ll fight it, but right now I don’t know anything,” she comments. “If it costs more to refurbish than destroy it, we’d like to see those figures.”

Members of the NAQCPA feel that Casa Grande and the Opry House theater are significant reminders of Almaden’s history. In 1854, New Almaden consisted of a row of cottages, a brick yard, a hotel, and La Casa Grande. Initially, when construction began, Casa Grande was intended to be the hotel, but according to Art Boudreault, director and archivist for NAQCPA, Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton Halleck prevailed upon her husband to make the magnificent structure their home. Henry Hallack, as president of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Company, did exactly that, establishing it as “The Mine Manager’s Home.” The center of high society in New Almaden, Casa Grande was the site of garden parties and musical entertainment. What later became known as The Opry Theater, started as a dance floor in the 1920s, and became a dance club known as Club Almaden in the 1940s. After it was enclosed, actors performed melodramas there for many years.

For now, the future of the Opry House theater looks bleak. “We will determine if demolition is the best choice,” says Frederick, “or if there are other options once the Opry House is removed—if it is deemed a significant historical structure, and the integrity of the original structure is still there. But it has been changed quite a bit.”