Grace Baptist Church in San Jose, which was a nexus for the peace and civil rights movements in the 1950s and ’60s, is finally on the path to becoming a city historical landmark, a designation that congregation members have wanted for years.
The San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to nominate the 83-year-old structure as a city landmark, closing the loop on a proposal made by Councilmember Omar Torres last year. The process isn’t automatic — the Historic Landmarks Commission will have a hearing and a vote then it’ll come back to the City Council for final approval — but it should be a shoo-in.
The Gothic Revival building with Art Deco influences was designed by architects Binder & Curtis and constructed in 1941, providing a new home for the congregation founded in 1914. (Ironically, its previous building at Seventh and Santa Clara streets would have been an interesting landmark because of the lighthouse installed on its roof.) Since its opening, the church has been home to a Robert Morgan pipe organ that was purchased from the Liberty Theater in San Jose.
Grace Baptist’s most important historical association is probably with the Rev. George “Shorty” Collins, a towering presence who moved to San Jose from Wisconsin in 1957 when he was 65 years old. Collins, who helped found the San Jose Peace Center, served as pastor at the church for many years and continued to counsel students and strive for peace until his retirement at age 94.
The church’s congregation has dwindled in recent years, but they were shocked a few years back when discussions started about demolishing the building to redevelop the land into a housing tower. Larry Guernsey led a drive to save the church, and he turned in a petition to the city council with more than 2,800 names attached in support of preservation.
Jeanne Wardrip , who serves as Grace Baptist Church’s moderator while it is without a senior pastor, told the council Tuesday that the congregation has worked very hard to preserve the church.
“We had former leadership and a pastor who wanted to tear it down, and we worked for six months to preserve it. So you can see how serious we are about this beautiful old building,” she said. “What is new becomes old; it doesn’t mean we throw it out. Communities need places of worship as well as housing.”
ART AND ABOUT: The Berryessa Art Festival, which has survived as San Jose’s longest-running art festival, returns to Penitencia Creek Park, behind the Berryessa Community Center, on Saturday for its 47th year. There’ll be more than 75 artists and art vendors, along with food trucks, beer and wine and live music performances from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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And Silicon Valley Open Studios has the second of its three weekends, giving art fans the rare opportunity to go inside the studios of artists and see how it’s all done (and hopefully purchase something to take home). This weekend’s focus is on the mid-Peninsula, covering communities including Los Altos, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Redwood City.
The final weekend, May 17-18, is devoted to the South Bay, including San Jose, Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Gatos and Sunnyvale. More information and a downloadable directory is available at svos.org.
SHARKS’ CHARITABLE GOAL: The Sharks Foundation has partnered with SAP for its Education Equity Campaign in January, with an increase in grant funds over the next three years allowing nonprofit groups to request up to $300,000. During the campaign, the Sharks Foundation and SAP will set their sights on supporting initiatives that aim to close the opportunity gap by providing educational resources to underserved communities and giving the next generation a path to career readiness. More details on the grant process is available at www.nhl.com/sharks/sharksfoundation/grant-funding.
