City negotiates for church property
By Oakley Brooks
In its quest to acquire more property for community and recreation use, the city is drawing closer to an acquisition on Prospect Road.
City officials have been in closed negotiations in recent weeks with leaders from Grace Methodist Church about purchasing the church's four-building campus at 19849 Prospect Road.
The church's worship hall, education building, administrative offices, and multi-purpose room sit on 2.6 acres in the northwest section of the city near Parker Ranch, at the Cupertino line.
Rev. Judith Stone, who's been negotiating with City Manager Dave Anderson, said the buildings total about 11,800 square feet.
Rev. Stone said the listing price for her church's property was $4.5 million.
The negotiating price and the conditions of the potential sale have been kept confidential by both sides.
At the city council's direction, Anderson has been on the lookout for property for the city since he arrived in Saratoga in August 2000. "The city is very property short," City Attorney Richard Taylor said.
Anderson said the new space could be used for senior and sports programs, as well as general city services and community meeting space.
He said the city lacks space larger than its administrative conference room, with roughly two dozen seats, but smaller than the Civic Theatre.
A meeting space in the northern part of the city would allow neighbors to stay local for community meetings and recreation, and would also free up space in the Saratoga Community Center, as well as the Civic Theatre and the administrative conference room.
"Those spaces are booked solid," Anderson said.
According to Rev. Stone, the Grace Methodist congregation will be merging with the Los Gatos United Methodist Church in June. She said the number of Grace Methodist parishioners has been declining steadily since the late 1970s.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
