The county has plans to restore the three-story Casa Grande, the flagship building of the New Almaden National Historic Landmark, to the way it looked from 1854 to 1927, the time it was used for mining activities. However, the restoration plans do not include keeping the Opry House next to the Casa Grade, which was built in 1934, according to the county's research.

"It is not consistent with the historic significance [of the Casa Grande]," said Mark Frederick, planning and real estate manager with the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department.

Santa Clara County bought the Casa Grande in 1998. According to the county, after the purchase, Santa Clara's county historical heritage commission determined that the building's historical significance should be identified with the mining activities and the time it was used as a mine manager's residence, which was from 1854 to 1927.

However, Kitty Monahan, a volunteer at the Quicksilver Mining Museum which is housed in the Casa Grande, said the years chosen to define the historic significance are "arbitrary."

"History continues. It never ends," she said. "Anything over 50 years is historically significant."

The county is planning on moving the museum, now on the middle floor, to the ground floor.

In restoring the Casa Grande, Frederick said crews would be using floor plans that date back to 1888 to re-create the mine manager's office and the living and dining rooms. Currently, officials are drawing up construction plans, in time for work to begin next summer. The county doesn't have all the funds necessary for the restoration of the building, a project estimated to be between $2 million and $3 million. The county is in the process of applying for state grant money, but if not all the money is secured, it may do the construction in phases. At the very least, the exterior, including the roof and the brick facade, will be redone, Frederick said.

The exclusion and demolition of the Opry House has disappointed many residents who want to save the Opry House. Monahan said that the 275 families of New Almaden and the 400 members of the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association voted twice to restore the Opry House.

"I voted for a different option," she said. "But I have to go along with it. I'm not happy, but that's all right."

Monahan had hoped the museum could use the now-vacant Opry House as a venue to hold lectures and keep artifacts. Also known as Club Almaden, the building was used as a dance floor and a family resort, and up until 2001, it was used as a theater for melodramas.

"It's a good theater," she said. "It had all the equipment for the electronic age. It could be fixed up."