A ‘landmark’ deal finds its place amid turmoil
The San Jose City Council is poised to soon give its blessing to a site for the San Jose Light Tower project, but a lot about the proposal to create a new city landmark has changed since its inception last year.
To begin with, it’s probably not going to be a “light tower” anymore — and certainly won’t be a modern replica of the iconic San Jose structure that straddled a downtown intersection between 1881 and 1915. After rounds of presentations and meetings, the three people leading the San Jose Light Tower Corp. — Jon Ball, Steve Borkenhagen and Thomas Wohlmut — conceded that a new version of the electric tower was popular with history buffs but not with city officials or potential donors.
But creating a landmark structure was attractive, so that’s become the focus (and yes, a name change for the nonprofit group is in the works as well). After a survey of seven potential downtown sites was conducted by architectural design firm Steinberg Hart, the Arena Green area of the Guadalupe River Park near SAP Center, rose to the top because of its available space and accessibility.
There are some issues with the site, including a lot of aircraft noise and an airport-related height restriction that would keep any structure to a maximum of 115 to 220 feet, depending on where it was in the park. The Confluence Point area, the Five Skaters tribute and the Sons of San Jose Vietnam War Memorial would all be preserved, but that still leaves a potential of 420,000 square feet for the project.
Once the city council approves a site, the next step would be an international “ideas” competition open to anyone as a precursor to creating an actual design. Borkenhagen has said the limitations of the site obviously would influence the design, so height may be less of a factor in a place like Arena Green. A prototype for a tiny home is displayed during the unveiling ceremony on Monday at San Jose City Hall.