Redesign plans for park spark a backlash
Preservationist group wants to stop the city from building a performing pavilion there
A preservationist group is seeking a court order to reverse the approval of San Jose’s massive redesign of St. James Park and stop plans to build a performing pavilion that could attract thousands to the downtown park grounds.
The Sainte Claire Historic Preservation Foundation this week filed a lawsuit in the Santa Clara County Superior Court against San Jose, alleging that it violated the city’s own historic preservation ordinance, as well as the state’s environmental review process, when it approved a redesign plan for St. James Park in late October. The foundation also filed an appeal of the city’s authorization of a historic preservation permit for the project, which the San Jose City Council will discuss at its meeting Tuesday.
The foundation focuses on the preservation of the 1893 St. Claire Club building, which sits on the northern edge of St. James Park and serves as home to the second- oldest men’s social club in the state. And, in its lawsuit, the group argues that the pavilion would alter the park to such an extent that it would jeopardize the historic landmark designations on its 127-year old building and that of the St. James Square National Register Historic District, which includes the park and eight other buildings in the surrounding area.
The foundation’s leaders say they support the city’s efforts to revitalize the shabby park but not the addition of a “problematic” performing arts and music pavilion.
“We simply ask the court to enforce clear requirements of CEQA and the city’s own ordinances that protect the historical integrity of St. James Park and the historic district,” the foundation’s executive director, Shawn Atkisson, said in a statement. “The park project should proceed, and our legal action will not prevent it when revised to relocate the Levitt Pavilion to a compatible site without significant environmental impacts.”
St. James Park, which was constructed in the 1800s, originally was envisioned to serve as a flour