Willow Glen
Neighborhood Association
P. O. Box 7706,
San Jose CA 95150
408/294-WGNA
www.WGNA.net
January 10, 2008
Rod Diridon, Sr.
San Jose Trolley Corporation
210 N. Fourth St., 4th Floor
San Jose, CA 95192-0219
fax: 924-7565
re: Endorsement of Historic Railroad Museum Project
Dear Mr. Diridon,
On behalf of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association (WGNA), I am writing to thank you and Marv Bamburg for your presentation yesterday on the plans for a Historic Railroad Museum in San Jose.
Willow Glen has a long history with trains – in fact, it was due to original plans in the 1920’s to reroute the tracks from Fourth Street that led residents to incorporate as the Town of Willow Glen in the first place. We thus find it appropriate that the Guadalupe River at Coleman site selected for the Railroad Museum was once the site of the old tracks and train station.
Several considerations influenced our deliberations:
- The endorsement of the surrounding neighbors in the Vendome district, and the separation of the museum from residential areas;
- The connection to an existing rail line, with the hope that at times the restored trains can make ceremonial runs;
- The compatibility with the existing Guadalupe River Trail and Park Chain: if commercial businesses were built at that site instead as originally planned, then a bridge would have had to be built over the Guadalupe, creating yet another obstacle for trail users, whereas the museum will attract visitors to the Park; and
- This is a good utilization of land under the adjacent freeway.
WGNA is concerned about City revenue, which impacts the City’s ability to pay for needed services. The loss of commercial land adversely impacts the tax revenue, but that may be offset to some degree by tourists coming to visit the museum. Also,
- WGNA is interested in historic preservation, and we are pleased to see that the project would preserve visual access to the historic warehouses along Bassett and the old Hart signage;
- We are also interested in traffic, and this site has adequate access without impacting residents in the community;
- And we are interested in parkland, which is also being provided to the neighborhood as part of the proposed project.
Thus, I am pleased to report that the WGNA Board voted unanimously to endorse the Historic Railroad Museum Project at the site along the Guadalupe River near Coleman Avenue.
// signed //
Dr. Lawrence Ames, WGNA President
cc: Mayor Reed and San Jose Councilmembers
Leslee Hamilton, Executive Director, Guadalupe River Park & Gardens.