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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Sunnyvale architect Joe Gutierrez stands in the apricot orchard that is next to the Sunnyvale Community Center. As chair and co-founder of the Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit, Gutierrez's first
goal was to save the orchard land from development.
New Growth
The heart of the OPHIE project, Joe Gutierrez, is busy making heritage history
By Gretchen Knaup
The Orchard Park Heritage Interpretive Exhibit is finally completed and will open to the public on May 12. But after over 10 years of planning, it was no walk in the park. Just ask architect Joe Gutierrez, the man behind the mission.
Although the architecture and landscaping appear simple, don't be fooled. The project, spearheaded by Gutierrez, has been through a long and integrated journey. According to Gutierrez, a Sunnyvale resident for 32 years, it all started back in 1990 with the Orchard Park Heritage Interpretive Exhibit Task Force's goal of preserving farming history.
"We wanted an interpretive exhibit to tell the story of the valley before it was the technological valley it is today," Gutierrez said, adding, "This valley produced prunes, pears, apricots, cherries and walnuts. There were many families that owned land or had something to do with the land, and those names will be in the exhibit."
The dedication of OPHIE is scheduled for May 12, in conjunction with the State of the City address. "In the program we will take a few minutes to talk about what we did, how we did it, and to thank people," Gutierrez said. The ceremony will commence by turning over the OPHIE exhibit to the city, with acceptance by Mayor Jack Walker.
Historical Society President Jan Camp has high praise for Gutierrez.
"He has been so faithful in this project and has done an awful lot of leg work," she said. "He put together a great alliance. Because of him, we were able to attract the people that have businesses with interests in this. He pulled them all together."
To accomplish the goal of preservation, the task force had to do three things--raise funds, design the exhibit and build it. "Many people in the community had to come together for this to happen," said Gutierrez. He added, "The city was behind us all the way. We couldn't ask for more."
The 10-acre orchard is owned by the city, but privately contracted. Charlie Olson of Olson's Cherries earns his livelihood from the orchard, and in return, he pays for its water usage. According to Gutierrez, this made it a perfect place for the exhibit, because buying land wouldn't be necessary.
In 1996, the city finally agreed to let the task force build the exhibit on the orchard site in Sunnyvale, if the task force paid for it. The department of parks and recreation also agreed to take care of the exhibit, if the task force built it as a resource for the public to visit.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Sunnyvale architect Joe Gutierrez stands next to the nearly finished Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit. He has spent the last 11 years as the chairman and co-founder of this project, and has worked hard to finally see it through to fruition. The orchard will open to the public on May 12.
In regard to the exhibit's maintenance, Cathy Merrill, assistant to the director of parks and recreation, said, "It is the question of maintaining the panels and the roof. It is not anticipated to require a high level of maintenance, or difficulty due to the architecture. You want to make sure you have the facility to maintain the preservation."
According to Gutierrez, the biggest obstacle was raising the money. He said it was especially hard during the recession and not until after 1996, did the ball start really rolling. He also said, "To raise money for a historical development was hard during the recession, because it's art. People didn't want to give money for art. Then things started picking up with the economy."
In 1998, the task force became the Orchard Park Heritage Interpretive Exhibit Alliance when they joined with other interested groups to form a partnership.
"The Alliance became a huge infrastructure with marketing, committees and directors. It turned into an effective machine for raising money," Gutierrez said. He added, "It's the story of a big team community effort and lots of participation from the city." Due to the collaboration, the construction was able to begin last November. According to Gutierrez, real work couldn't be done until February because of the rain.
The design of the exhibit was a collaboration, as well, Gutierrez said. Paul Reed served as the landscape architect and put together the permit documents. Mary Jo Ignoffo served as the historian and wrote the text. The art and photographs came from various sources. The organization designer was Mary Sievert.
"When you walk into an exhibit, the way it is organized is what makes it interesting," Gutierrez said of the organization and graphics. "Also, eventually there will be some kind of a three-dimensional item in the middle of the exhibit that represents orchard care."
Gutierrez is very interested in history. When asked why he got involved in the first place he explained, "I've always been a history buff. I became a heritage commissions member back in 1990, and my tour of duty was the orchard. Then, I joined the historical society and they let me work on learning more about orchards. I knew then that something had to be done in order to preserve this history." Gutierrez figured the project would take close to five years, but as years passed, he became more and more dedicated.
"He keeps telling me he hasn't done enough with the Historical Society, but look at all he's done with OPHIE," Camp said. "I know I can always count on him, and you feel good about working with him.
"We feel proud being parents of OPHIE," Camp added. "It's the new blood, and our people have risen to the occasion. Sunnyvale is interesting in that we are a bunch of people doing our own businesses, but we've come together to do a lot of extra work, in order to get back to the rich orchard history."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
