THE BOYD GATEHOUSE: WHAT CAN WE DO?
The exuberant Victorian at B and Mission, which for many years was the headquarters of the Marin History Museum, is empty, in need of repair, and vulnerable to fire and vandalism. In May, San Rafael Heritage held a "This Place Matters" demonstration there, waving our orange National Trust signs at responsive passersby. Last week, we nominated the building to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2016 “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places”. The buildings won’t be named until October, but we felt that the nomination process itself would help us to crystallize our thinking on how to protect the building and perhaps be a spur to action. The Gatehouse is already on the National Register of Historic Places.
We tried to tell the story of the house and stress how its place in the community in the 1870‘s AND in the 21st century make it very important to San Rafael. Like its park, the house is owned by the City of San Rafael, which had been leasing it to the Marin History Museum for years at a nominal sum. The Museum was supposed to be helping with maintenance needs. Now the City is left with an expensive beauty on its hands. How can we help the City preserve this wonderful asset?
The exuberant Victorian at B and Mission, which for many years was the headquarters of the Marin History Museum, is empty, in need of repair, and vulnerable to fire and vandalism. In May, San Rafael Heritage held a "This Place Matters" demonstration there, waving our orange National Trust signs at responsive passersby. Last week, we nominated the building to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2016 “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places”. The buildings won’t be named until October, but we felt that the nomination process itself would help us to crystallize our thinking on how to protect the building and perhaps be a spur to action. The Gatehouse is already on the National Register of Historic Places.
We tried to tell the story of the house and stress how its place in the community in the 1870‘s AND in the 21st century make it very important to San Rafael. Like its park, the house is owned by the City of San Rafael, which had been leasing it to the Marin History Museum for years at a nominal sum. The Museum was supposed to be helping with maintenance needs. Now the City is left with an expensive beauty on its hands. How can we help the City preserve this wonderful asset?
SRH Board: Leslie Simons, Jim Draper, Ed Vorous
Liza Wozniak, Christa Gatewood, Sally Seymour, Hugo Landecker
Nadia Silvershine, Cynthia Landecker, Amy Likover
(Missing, Jeffery Rhoades)
San Rafael Heritage thinks that the first step is to raise public awareness of the threat to the Gatehouse. That may engender a movement to secure the building’s future, perhaps by helping the City find a good tenant, and perhaps by helping to raise the large amount of money needed to for immediate repairs. And how should the building be used? Should it remain a community cultural resource, or should it go into private or commercial hands if it can be properly protected?
So--what to do, and what can YOU do? You could go by the house yourself and give it a good look. That will tell you that time is of the essence, before peeling paint and dry rot take too much of a toll. Then, tell your friends and neighbors, in conversation, Facebook, social media, etc. about the condition of the house and ask them to get involved. And you can respond to this email for information or with any ideas you might have about publicizing the plight of the Gatehouse, or helping the City to find a suitable tenant, or fund-raising for maintenance and repairs! Please, volunteer some time and/or ideas so the Gatehouse can remain one of San Rafael’s best historical treasures!
So--what to do, and what can YOU do? You could go by the house yourself and give it a good look. That will tell you that time is of the essence, before peeling paint and dry rot take too much of a toll. Then, tell your friends and neighbors, in conversation, Facebook, social media, etc. about the condition of the house and ask them to get involved. And you can respond to this email for information or with any ideas you might have about publicizing the plight of the Gatehouse, or helping the City to find a suitable tenant, or fund-raising for maintenance and repairs! Please, volunteer some time and/or ideas so the Gatehouse can remain one of San Rafael’s best historical treasures!
SRH members in front of
Boyd Gatehouse