Bring back the Bank of Italy building’s green light
If you ask me, the best thing about the reported sale of the Bank of Italy building — am I the only one who still calls it the Bank of America building?
— is the possibility that the green beacon atop the tower’s spire will be relit. If you’ve been in San Jose for more than a couple of decades, you probably remember the light atop the historic downtown building. It was, for many years, the one thing you saw as you approached downtown.
As other buildings with their own rooftop warning lights overtook the 14-story building in height, it stopped being necessary to have the beacon lit for passing aircraft. When I told former building owner Steven Lin that I missed the green glow and and asked why it was no longer lit up at night, he told me the fixture had burned out and was too costly to replace.
Gary Dillabough, a realty investor and venture capitalist, told my colleague George Avalos that his partners are local investors who care deeply about an iconic building in need of repair. I can’t think of a better way to restore the building to its former glory as a downtown gem than to restore that green light. HOLIDAY CHEER >> The Alviso Santa program brought some smiles to about 900 families and kids at George Mayne School on Dec. 9. Judy Santiago, who founded the effort 34 years ago, and Richard Santos made sure that the kids got a visit with Santa, gifts, books and lunch, sponsored by Zanker Recycling.
Joining in the holiday fun were San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Santa Clara County Supervisors Dave Cortese and Cindy Chavez, Assemblyman Kansen Chu, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith and San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia.
JOB WELL DONE >> The Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children’s Services had a farewell dinner at Saigon Kitchen on Story Road on Friday for Hieu Tran, who is retiring after a 32-year career with the Child Welfare Multilingual Unit. During his tenure there, which included 25 years as the unit’s supervisor, he helped develop programs for Vietnamese residents, classes on cultural awareness and parenting, as well as a Gamblers Anonymous group.
He was born in Vietnam and was a member of the South Vietnam Police Force. After the country fell in 1975, he spent the next three years in a labor camp before escaping to Hong Kong and coming to the United States as a refugee in 1979. He eventually made his way to San Jose and earned a master’s degree in social work from San Jose State in 1985 — then started working for the county. One of his three sons is following in his footsteps by pursuing an MSW degree at SJSU, too.
PARKING CRUNCH >> A delightful holiday trip turned sour for Susan Dyer over the weekend. On Sunday, she attended Opera San Jose’s amazing production of “Cinderella” — the show created by 12-year-old music prodigy Alma Deutscher — and parked in the lot across from the California Theatre behind the old Valley Title building.
The problem came after the show as people were trying to leave. “We — and many others — waited nearly one more hour to pay and exit the lot,” she said. And while many downtown lots offer a flat weekend rate, this private lot, operated by Maxxum Management, was hourly. So not only did they have to wait, they had to pay extra because of the delay.
“We were fuming and angry at Maxxum for being such a Grinch at Christmas,” Dyer said in an email. “Many people using the lot were families who were going to see Christmas in the Park. No one should have that experience.”
You know who loves stories like this? Uber drivers.