October 5, 2006

Residents can vote for renovation of Casa Grande

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Many have visited Casa Grande—a federal revival-style building that contains the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. But if you look closely, the structure is badly in need of repairs.

Enter the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the World Monuments Fund and American Express Partners in Preservation, an initiative to preserve the places and landmarks that have made the Bay Area the vibrant place it is today. A visit to its Web site showcases the historic sites identified in need of support and Casa Grande is listed. The winners will share in the pledge of $1 million dollars to help restore the structures.

“The grant application for the Casa Grande restoration project is for possible funding with a slight twist,” said Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department [SCCPRD] public information officer Tamara Clark-Shear. “The National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express pledged $1 million to help restore many of the Bay Area’s most remarkable landmarks—Casa Grande is one of those historic landmarks.

The twist is that Bay Area residents can vote for any of the 25 local historic sites they want to get a share of the preservation money. So, if you are interested, vote today and every day until Oct. 31 for preservation funding for Casa Grande.

Five criteria will be used for the final Partners in Preservation grant selection: historic significance, the project plan, community impact, organizational excellence and a completion date of June 2008. Besides Casa Grande, the only other site in the South Bay is Hakone Gardens.

Casa Grande was built in the 1850s as the mine manager’s residence. The Barron Forbes Company hired Henry Halleck [1815-1872] as the Quicksilver Mining Company manager from 1853 to 1861. Halleck commissioned Casa Grande, which was built by Francis Meyers and completed in 1855. Every mine manager after Halleck lived at the brick- and wood-framed Casa Grande, which stands on 5 acres.

After the Quicksilver Mining Company’s bankruptcy, George Sexton maintained the property. In 1927, the Black brothers purchased the building, living on the third floor and opened the lower two floors for dining and dancing. They replaced the gardens with swimming pools and established the summer resort, which they called Club Almaden. Various owners followed and the building was a popular place to shop and hold parties. In 1981, Terry Esplanade began renovating the building and removed the stucco-like material on the exterior to expose the brick structure.

In 1998, SCCPRD purchased Casa Grande and moved the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum into the main floor as the flagship of the 4,000-square-foot park. The museum now showcases the lives of the men and women of California’s first and richest mine. Casa Grande’s interior and exterior is badly in need of repairs; a new roof is needed, the veranda is rotting, there is termite damage and the beautiful 5-acre grounds need to be landscaped.

“The Casa Grande is the second oldest structure in Santa Clara County,” said New Almaden Quicksilver Museum park interpreter John Slenter. “The oldest is the old adobe downtown. The Casa Grande needs a complete refurbishing from top to bottom to look like it did in the 1890s and to preserve this structure for future generations to enjoy. It is one of our few gems left.”

To vote for Casa Grande every day until Oct. 31, visit http://www.partnersinpreservation.com/index.php?sec=exploc&locID=23.