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Home My WebLink About07/18/1989, COMM.2 - SUNNY ACRES BUILDING f"7nNG AGENDA DAZE rw IIIA cityo sAn lues oBisw 990 Palm Street/Post Office Box 8100 • San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-8100 July 17, 1989 *Denotes action by lead Person Respond by: GOOLMI .MEMORANDUM 01CAO ( . Gertr TO: Councilmembers 9(9.7tjg1.4tZ) FROM: Mayor Dunin • T, SUBJECT: SUNNY ACRES BUILDING Attached please find a copy of a memo from Jerry Michael, Chairperson of the Cultural Heritage Committee regarding the preservation of the Sunny Acres Building. I would like to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors in support of U preserving the building as an historical site for the City and County of San Luis Obispo and would appreciate your comments. Thank you. RD:ch sunnymem Attachment C: John Dunn, CAO Pam Voges, City Clerk RECEIVED JUL 1 71989 m".56 PA CITY CLERK SAN LUIS OBISPO.CA ��1In91tiIIluIIIINBI�� 91�1II�10luIS' OBISP0. O san CI 990 Paim Street/Post Office Box 8100 • San Luis Obispo,CA 93403-8100 July 12, 1989 Mr. Ron Dunin, Mayor City Hall 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, 93403 Subject: Preservation of the Sunny Acres Building Dear Mr. Dunin and Members of the City Council: On July 6, 1989 the Cultural Heritage.Committee (CHC) heard a presentation from Mr. Robert Vessely and others concerning the preservation, restoration and reuse of the Sunny Acres building located off of Johnson Avenue This building is owned by the county and was once used as a juvenile hall facility. It was vacated when a new juvenile facility was built on county land off Highway 1. Over the years the Sunny Acres building has been subject to vandalism and has deteriorated. After discussing the cultural value of the Sunny Acres building, the CHC determined that Oit is a culturally significant structure because: 1. Its designer was from a family of important architects. (The building was designed by the William Moser Company of San Francisco, established 1852,) 2. The building is an important architectural feature of the community's landscape. 3. The architectural detailing of the building is significant. 4. It is a surviving element of a social service once provided in the community. The Cultural Heritage Committee feels that this building should be preserved. It suggests that the City Council send a letter to the County Board of Supervisors supporting the preservation, rehabilitation, and reuse of the building and opposing its demolition. The Cultural Heritage Committee is available to discuss this issue further if the council feels it appropriate. If you have any questions, contact Terry Sanville in the Community Development Department. Si cerely, rry Michael, Chairperson ultural Heritage Committee �J cc Randy Rossi Attachments N6 N P �7 •0 -Z Are.%WMAO I M dbOt I V, i; Ip.go W4 California'93401 738 f M�� qK6 D Ugoboo (805)" June' :I_a,, 1989 AGENDA -- . I _ Hr. Terry Sanville DATE A9 HECE(VED Community. Developnient .DepArtment JIM City of San Luis Obispo PO Box 8100 San Luis- Obispo, California 93403-8100 RE! Cultural Heritage Committee Terry, As you may know, I have been working for some time now on the preservation and restoration of the Sunny Acres Building. I believe that the structure is a handsome example of a kind of architecture and construction that is no longer produced. I believe that the building may interest the Cultural Her.itage Committee and I ask -foran opportunity to meet with them to dis- cuss the Idea of a CHC endorsement of the preservation of the building. I believe that there is good reason to do this now. The .County has hired a consultant. to study the General Hospital property with the idea that it can be developed to somehow benefit the hospital . According -to the General Services Department, they do not see - a use for the -Sunny Acres building and they are planning the area as if it doesn't exist. Earlier. this. year I *sent'some information about the building and its architect to the.. Comm-ittee members (copy enclosed) . I 'd -be Z, happy ",to e 1 aborate, on- that."and br I ng the members up to date. I understand *hat-*'the Committ.ee. ui.l.l meet next on July 6, 1981a.- I Od be happy' to=make :.is' presentation ation At that time. Please let me know. SiOcerelYs. Robert S.. aily III RCE CTHE 'SUNNY ACRES' BUILDING, San Luis Obispo During the past year, I have been researching the Sunny Acres building on Johnson Avenue in San Luis Obispo, its designer and the construction tech- niques used at that time. I have spoken with descendants of the Architect, architectural historians and local officials and my interest in the build- ing has been shown to be widely shared. Below is a summary of my research that I think may be of interest. Sunny Acres was built by the County of San Luis Obispo in 1931 as a "chil- dren's home", a home for orphans and wards of the court. The building was designed by William Mooser Company, Architects of San Francisco, and .__was remodeled in 1947 and again 1959. Over the years it gradually became the county juvenile detention facility and was used as such until it was aban- doned in 1974. The original architect, William Mooser Company, although not widely known, was a firm of substantial longevity. The firm was established in 1852 and was operated by three generations of the Mooser family until closing in 1969. Among the notable examples of the Mooser Company's work are the courthouses in Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Nevada, Calaveras, Stanislaus and Toulumne counties and the tower building in Ghirardelli square, the Grant-Geary Center, and the National Maritime Museum, all in San Francisco. During the time that Sunny Acres was designed, the Mooser firm was operated by William Mooser Jr. , who was an engineer and his son, William Mooser, III, who was a graduate of the Ecole des Beaux Arts of Paris. The structural integrity of the Sunny Acres building has been questioned. I believe, however that the building is sound for a number of reasons. First, the fact that William Mooser, Jr. was an engineer and was practicing in San Francisco at the time of the earthquake in 1906. Second, there are references to the generous use of reinforcing steel in the Santa Barbara Courthouse which was built five years before Sunny Acres. Third, the Mooser buildings in general are thought to be well constructed by those who have worked on them, for instance, Mr. Jim Delgado, of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area who restored a number of Mooser buildings for the National Park Service. And finally from the condition of the building itself, it is apparent that the building was thoroughly designed and well constructed despite its present condition_ l 7 � A w Robert S. Vessely, RCE January, 1989 738 Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo, California 93401 (805) 541-2003 !, jIt , C PROOF OF PUBLICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA SS. County of San Luis Obispo NOTICE TO CONTBACTOAS,, Pursuant to an order of the y1• 3 . S Il1�Lh Board .of Supervisors of San. Luis . .... ......... .... .......................... ................._............................. Obispo County, State of California, made on,the 22nd day of Septem- of said County, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That ber,. 1930, notice,is hereby given that'sealed .bids will be receivedd 1.C O r arid until 2 o'clock P. X on the 14th I am the ...................................................... day of October, 930,.by the'Board of Supervisors, County.of San'LuisI Printer of the .........1inra1cL—hHC.order...•. .......................................... Obispo, State of California, 8t their rooms.in the County Court House.� newspaper printed and published at City df.San Luis,Obispo State of a .....W.eekly California,said bids'.then and there will' be, publicly opened and read, Arroyo Grandry for 'furntshing all plant,,material __ ...... . in the County of San and labor'and doing.the work re- quired. for the construction and' Luis Obispo, State of California; that the notice. of which a true erection* of a CHILDREN'S HOME - AND A HEALTH'FARM BUILDING at the County General Hospital copy is hereto attached, was first published in said newspaper �. site, . City' -of San Luis;. Obispo, County of San Luis Obispo, State of California, in accordance with; in its issue dated the 26 til (lay of.....S.PpC.AliIUHr.... ......... the plans and specifications there-: fore,.;made byi s m Mo er Com an . Architects, copies 1930 , and that the last publication of said notice was publish- which may e obtained on appll-: cation from office of architects. ed in said newspaper in its issuo dated the....10L,,l day of .Such bids will be recelved'for the work as follows: Bid (1) For Children's Home. OCLObe2• 1f130 ; that said notice was published General and Painting Works, exclusive of in every regular and entire issue of said newspaper during the Plumbing,H e a t i n g and Electric Works_..$........ Bid (2) For Health Farm period and time of publication aforesaid, that is to sad•, or. ti. Building.General and Painting Works, ex- 26 tri of S ep temborf..3rd clusive of- Plumbing ................................... ............. ... ........ ................... . and Electric, Works...$_..._._. Bid (3) For Children's home ........................- -----...........................................................................I.. ........... and Health Farm Building, combined, Generaland Painting ............................................................................................................................................................ Works exclusive of Plumbing,H e a t i n g andElectric Works....$_...... ..........................................................................................................._............................................. Bid (4) Children's H o m e— Plumbing ........_..__ $___.. ........................._....._............................................................................ ;Bid (5) Health Farm Build- ing—Plumbing .—_—$•....... ..............................------........................................................_..._._........ Bid (0) Children's H o m e— Heating .................. S......:.. Bid' (7) Children's Home— ... ................ ....................................... .................................................................................... (:.• Electric ..._.........r.—.S._ ... ;Big (8) Health Farm Build *'.(. ing—Electric . $ -........................................... Bid (9):.Children's Home— .•'. and........10Gh.........._.days of....-.0C_t94JH.r........................ ..... 1930...... Plumbing and Beat- x4` i .;Ing, combined: $ Bid(30)C1!&*R i_1fWE e:-- and that said notice was published in said newspaper proper, :. Plumbing and Heat- Ing d Electric,com and not in a supplement illi /\\\ \f--1\\. !1-- ` J ' C A V' • a - 4• ! �(ajr��.• •�t`S. R :ora V .t�"�„�•`'} 1 Sunny Acres faces clouded future By Warren Groshong Stanislaw and Tuolumne counties "It is still being vandalized regu- Telegram-Tribune and several structures in San Fran- larly,"said Rosenberger."We went cisco, including the tower building up and secured all the accessible Sunny Acres, the old brick juve- in Ghiradelli Square, the Grant- windows with boards. Some have nile detention facility,just sits there Geary Center and the National Mar- been kicked out so we go back and behind General Hospital like an itime Museum. fir them. abandoned ship. It is bruised and In recent years the county or- "They have even kicked a hole battered by vandals and the old girl deed an evaluation of the building through the roof decking and got in is suffering from antiquity, its fu- and it was determined to be strut- through the hole,"he said. ture still unknown. tonally unsafe. Cables have been stretched across Three years ago, the county Vesely disputes that conclusion the access road to the building, but Board of Supervisors was all set to on several grounds.First,he notes, people with four-wheel drive vehi- accept a bid of$100 to tear it down Mooser, its architect, was an engi- des have pulled the cables out of for salvage. But the forces that neer and was practicing in San the ground. wanted it preserved prevailed. Francisco at the time of the 1906 Aad police and firemen a few Its future now is tied to decisions earthquake.That in Vesely's think- years ago reported evidence of on what the county plans ultimately ing indicates Mooser probably de- some kind of satanic activity in the to do with General Hospital. And signed Sunny Acres with a special building where fires had been start- those decisions may be years away. interest in structural safety. ed on the floor. Robert Vessely, the San Luis Ob- Second, Were are references to As someone once said, "They ispo engineer who won the battle to the generous use of reinforcing steel used to keep kids locked up inside, prevent its abatement, has dug up in We Santa Barbara Courthouse but now can't seem to keep them some more history on the building which was built five years before out" to support his case. Sunny Acres and may reflect the Another problem: Testing Indi- It was built In 1971 as a home for aMbited's disposition toward safe taus that plaster in the building orphans and wards of the court It bnildings. Third, the Mooser build- contains more asbestos than We law was designed by William Mooser fags in meal are thought to.be allows, said Rosenberger. "My Co., San Francisco architects, and well contracted by those who have guess," he said, "is that it would was remodeled in 1947 and 1959. worked an them.And finally,Vesse- take tens of thousands of dollen to Somewhere along the line it became ly offers bis own opinion as an abate the asbestos. And it can't be a juvenile hall and was used as such engineer that the building was well- knocked down until that is done." until 1974, when the county decided designed and well-built In spite of One of these days someone will to put the juveniles elsewhere. its present condition. have to decide whether Sunny Acus Vessely notes that the architect And its present condition is de- is a viable structure which can be had a good reputation.He designed plorable,says George Rosenberger, put into service. the courthouses in Santa Barbara, assidaai director of General Serv- Maybe we should say one of these Contra Costa, Nevada, Calaveras, ices far the county. decades. C.7 - SECOND FLOOR FIRST FLOOR r � MEMORAk0UM MY Of Six-91UIS OBISp0 990 Palm,StreetlBox 8100•San Luis Obispo,CA 93403-8100 TO CITY COUNCIL 1 FROM KIM CONDON, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK• VIA: PAM VOGES, CITY CLERK SUBJECT 7/18/89 REGULAR MEETING — COMMUNICATIONS I - "CROSSROADS" DATE 7/14/89 The attached map was received today as an added attachment to Terry Sanville's memorandum previously distributed to you on 7/13. c: J. Dunn Lead Person :✓<Denotes action by RRes/s nd by' ::dc AOI i Ierk-orig. Q' GicE' iiiif: \ • :).::::; `::,` ,li{iii••:".'- /•'• „✓ \ �.�. �. '.rte* • l� �_ .(;;....•...... �::..� titi \ it m •isi'.�' 1�p�r Vii::• /� . ` •�' `�' •.t��" :�::` �'. / :iii:.\ .�\ I •L::. .iii`.[v;�; •:; ....... It z Kin Izzlz 00 ICA 07 Q1 go .t;.. N trr cpz IT I J _ ' v w" m I D �.1 m �V � I, OLII�]� 1