The Lyndon cupola, built in 1887, is currently near Los Gatos Creek in Oak Meadow Park.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Cupola site depends on skate-park plans
By Gloria I. Wang
Yes, it's true: The long-running saga of finding a home for the historic Lyndon cupola just might be drawing to a close. The century-old structure is expected to sit atop a bandstand in Oak Meadow Park, but the exact location isn't set in stone yet.
Even though the Los Gatos Town Council recently approved designs for the bandstand, the council held off on approving a specific site within the park, because Oak Meadow is also an alternate location for a proposed skateboard park.
Plans had been made to situate the bandstand on the northwest corner of the park, near University Avenue and the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad. Council members delayed finalizing the bandstand site for a maximum of 60 days, pending county consideration of a separate application for the town to build a skateboard area at Vasona Park.
If the county, which owns Vasona Park, denies the town's proposal, both the bandstand and the skateboard area might have to share Oak Meadow. In that case, designs would have to be redrawn up to accommodate both the 15,000 square feet skatepark and 30-foot-wide bandstand.
At the March 19 meeting, council members voted 3-2 to approve only the design and to delay siting approval. "It's hard for me to understand," said Councilman Steve Glickman, "that we can't wait [two months] to try to accommodate all segments of our population." Glickman--who supports the skateboard project, especially for the benefit of local teenagers--said that, while he supported the bandstand proposal, he felt that delaying the vote would allow "the community's desires to be considered."
Mayor Joe Pirzynski did not affirm the vote, because he does not support siting the skatepark at Oak Meadow in any case. "Fifteen-thousand square feet of cement in Oak Meadow Park is a problem for me," Pirzynski said. "This is a family park, this is a historic jewel of our park system."
The Los Gatos Community Foundation is the organization responsible for the restoration and placement of the cupola. Paul Dubois, former president of the foundation, said that sitting the bandstand in another area of the park would present a problem.
Rendering provided by the Los Gatos Community Foundation
A rendering of the restored cupola atop a proposed bandstand. The structure will be 46 feet high and 30 feet wide.
Dubois said that, of three different sites, one was turned down by the town's parks commission, while the other was deemed inappropriate. The proposed site is ideal because of its proximity to roadways and pathways, noise interference, visibility and the amount of natural lighting. A change in siting would require some design changes, Dubois said.
Parks Commissioner April Mainten agreed. Mainten said that the 46-foot-high structure looks imposing on paper, but blends in well with the proposed surroundings. "It adds a nice old-fashioned charm," Mainten said.
The cupola was originally a feature of a mansion on Wood Road, built by Los Gatos businessman John Lyndon in 1887. Sometime after the estate was demolished in the 1970s, Lyndon's great-grandson James Farwell donated the cupola to the San Jose Historical Museum.
According to the town's staff report, the cupola was "discovered in a state of disrepair" behind the museum in the late 1980s. Since 1994, the town considered several different proposals for the cupola, one of which involved Sue Farwell, the wife of the late James Farwell. Farwell had wanted to place the cupola on top of her Main Street commercial building. Town council, however, favored the Oak Meadow Park proposal.
In 1999, the town council voiced its support of the project, provided the Los Gatos Community Foundation could raise the funds necessary for completion. Foundation President Don Callahan later said that $120,000 of the $190,000 needed has already been raised. The foundation plans to complete construction of the bandstand before the end of the year. The bandstand will possibly serve as a venue for future musical and theatrical performances.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
