Old CV Library, Nike Base Get Landmark Status
Three sites in Castro Valley and one in San Lorenzo will now be recognized with historical and landmark status following a unanimous decision by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors at its April 11 meeting.
The old Castro Valley Library, Whitecotton Cottage, and the San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery were given landmark status. The Lake Chabot Nike Missile Base (Site SF-31C) atop Fairmont Ridge was named a historical district as part of the informal ordinance. Alameda County owns each of the properties. None are actively being used and all have suffered from years of neglect. The designation allows the county to preserve these sites and prevent them from being privately developed. However, the budget to restore these sites has not yet been determined.
Whitecotton is the oldest surviving building on the Fairmont Campus along Foothill Boulevard. It was constructed in 1903 and served as the residence for the facility’s superintendent. The Pioneer Cemetery is located at the corner of Hesperian Boulevard and College Street on land that was once part of the Jose Joaquin Estudillo land grant. It was later owned by John Lewelling and William Meek, whose families are buried in the cemetery.
The Nike Base was built in 1955 but was decommissioned in 1974. The Fairmont site contains five buildings: the Guard Station, the Quarters Building, the Generator Building, the Corridor Building with attached Radar Storage Shed, and the High Power Acquisition Radar (HIPAR) building.
The old Castro Valley Library, built in 1962, served the community until it moved to its current location on Norbridge Avenue. Many groups have eyed the property for public and private use—none so much as the Veterans Organization of the Castro Valley Area. The veterans have been petitioning the Board of Supervisors to support the decision and recommendation by the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) to let them manage and use the building as a resource to the community.
“Castro Valley vets are an important part of the community and are continuously available for functions that need color-guard or other patriotic services,” says Castro Valley resident and veteran Frank Mellon told the Forum. “The county could save itself a lot of money by letting the veterans take over the care of the old Library. It's a win-win that has been proposed since the old Library closed. All that has to be done after declaring the old Library historically significant is to direct staff to work with the vets to take over the care of the building.”
The County Supervisors are expected to finalize these four sites' historical and landmark status later this summer.