December 20, 2007

Almaden Feed and Fuel saved

Part of original building will become a single-family residence

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

If we save what we love, then a group of persevering preservationists have at least partially succeeded. Part of the historic Almaden Feed and Fuel will become a single-family home.

The Feed and Fuel has been vacant for over a year-and-a-half while the Feed and Fuel Committee fought to save the structure. Left: Denelle Fedor, Art Boudreault, Mike Boulland, Ed Della Monica, Mark Erickson and Lauren Bowker. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

The Feed and Fuel closed its doors over a year-and-a-half ago and that’s when Art Boudreault, Mike Boulland, Lauren Bowker, Ed Della Monica, Mark Erickson, Denelle Fedor and others joined forces to save the building. The structure had been a stagecoach stop when it was built in the 1890s, then a gas station, store, bar and restaurant through the years. The building was tweaked and added onto throughout the decades.

“We feel really good about this,” said Della Monica, a For the Feed and Fuel Committee member. “We saved the main structure. Nobody would have known that it was even there if it was torn down. And there will be a plaque on the building commemorating its history.”

The Feed and Fuel officially closed May 2006. Jon Carson, the owner of the property, applied to the city for a development permit to rezone the property at the southeast corner of Almaden Expressway and Almaden Road [18950 Almaden Road] for 14 single-family homes.

The Feed and Fuel was once a gas station called Gilmore’s, circa 1937. Photo courtesy New Almaden Mining Museum

Almaden residents Erickson and Della Monica had been researching the building and the possibility of relocating the Feed and Fuel to another site. They discovered that the enterprise would be too costly and that the building would have to remain at the present location to gain historical status. With that, the two started a time-consuming research of the building to gain the necessary points for consideration by the San Jose Historic Preservation Landmark Commission.

Erickson and Della Monica met New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum archivist Boudreault, who embarked on a full-scale investigation of the historical status of the Feed and Fuel. Points were added but not enough to grant the building city landmark status. The Feed and Fuel was dee-med a structure of merit. Denelle Fedor heard of the groups’ effort and joined, adding her political expertise to the committee.

The Planned Dev-elopment Permit allows the building to be rehabilitated as a single-family de-tached residence along with construction of 12 new single-family homes. Per the development standards of the Planned Develop-ment Zoning District, the rehab of the 1930s gas station-era portion of the Almaden Feed and Fuel building must be consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

The Feed and Fuel open for business in early 2006. Photo courtesy of Art Boudreault

The existing building is comprised of stucco, brick facing and wood siding dating back to the 1970s. These materials were used to fill in the old portico and are not a part of the original structure. The only original parts of the gas station that will remain are the supporting wood framing elements, which will be examined for integrity and re-used to the fullest extent possible. During construction, the structure will be replaced based on the details shown in the historic photograph and will be matched as closely as possible.

“The unit will look different but will transition into the rest of the complex,” said owner Carson. “The front porch and original room in front will be part of the single family home. We’re happy it will fit into the neighborhood.”

But the Feed and Fuel Committee is not done yet. Bowker and Boudreault are working with Carson for the words on the plaque to pay homage to the building. As the Times go to press, they are considering the following:

“Gateway to New Almaden—Home of the Quicksilver capital of the New World—Site of the richest single mine in North America.

ALMADEN CROSSING: The architectural drawing of the single-family residence that will look similar to the Feed and Fuel façade

“It doesn’t look just like a horse and buggy stop or a gas station anymore, but this building remained the last standing saloon and way station of the original mine. Where everybody and everything coming from downtown San Jose to the Quicksilver Mines stopped along the way. This building has changed along the way but the familiarity as a signpost has survived.”

The plaque and installation will be financed by the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association and E Clampus Vitus Mt. Charlie Branch. Owner Carson says construction will start in 2008 with sales possible in 2009.

“I wish to express my appreciation that the Planning Department has accepted our recommendations of the Feed and Fuel Committee, the Historic Landmarks and the Planning Commission concerning the historic property and site affectionately called the Almaden Feed and Fuel,” said Boudreault in a letter to the San Jose Planning Department. “Your insistence that the developer following the recommendations of the Historic Landmarks Commission goes a long way to saving a building that has meant so much to many residents and descendants of residents of Almaden Valley.”