March 18, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Sex offender too close to Valley Christian School

The Mission Motel where Cary Verse is staying is too close to Valley Christian School and I agree with Claude Fletcher that a good place for him would be those mobile homes outside Soledad Prison. That would keep him outside the general community.

We don't need someone like him in San Jose.

Lucille Hanks
Grandwood Way

Save the Opry House!

Editor,

As many Almaden residents know, the historic Opry House at the Quicksilver Mining Museum is slated for demolition. I have a personal plea to the citizens of Santa Clara County who are concerned with the preservation of history.

The Opry House was a dance Hall in the 1920s where big bands played. One of the owners was Ben Black, whose orchestra played and couples danced the night away. Black wrote “Moonlight and Roses” on the veranda of the Opry House. Couples met, fell in love, married and started families. Club Almaden began in the 1940s through the 1970s. It was a resort with four swimming pools, restaurant, café and an arcade for the children. Melodramas with troupes of actors dramatizing in vaudeville style there until 2000. All of this will just be a memory instead of walking through the historic structure.

Parks and Recreation had a choice of tearing down the structure or refurbishing the existing building. The cost was estimated to be the same. We have contractors who are willing to donate their time to keep the costs down to restore the structure. If there is not a public outcry to stop the demolition, the Opry House will be lost forever.

Please call Dana Peak at the Office of Planning Santa Clara County at 299-2454. Demand that an Environmental Impact Report [EIR] for the demolition of a historical structure in an H1 district be done.

In addition, please contact:

Office of Historic Preservation
Department of Parks and Recreation
P.O. Box 942896
Sacramento, CA 94296-0001
(916) 653-6624
Fax: (916) 653-9824
www.ohp.parks.ca.gov

Time is of the essence. Once the Opry House is gone there will only be a memory.

Kitty Monahan
President
New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association