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Council Watch
City Hall's downtown move gets praised and scorned
The City Council's decision to move downtown could help or hurt the neighborhood
By Jessica Lyons
After 40 years at its current North First Street location, San Jose's City Hall will return to its roots.
In an 8-3 vote, the City Council agreed to spend $214 million to move the civic center downtown, approving the most expensive downtown building project in city history.
"It would be an understatement to characterize the decisions before you as historic," said City Manager Debra Figone, presenting the project to the council.
Council members voting against the move were West San Jose's Linda LeZotte, Evergreen's Alice Woody and Downtown's Cindy Chavez.
The new center, located on East Santa Clara Street between Fourth and Sixth streets, will include a 15-story tower, two smaller buildings, an open-air plaza and a parking garage. Groundbreaking will start in 2001.
Other planned development includes a new symphony hall, a rebuilt Horace Mann Elementary School and a remodeled Lucky supermarket as well as parking garages, office buildings and apartments.
Critics of the move say it will disrupt downtown neighborhoods, creating traffic and parking problems.
"I think building a skyscraper in our neighborhood is unacceptable," said Carol Savoy, a member of the Horace Mann Neighborhood Association, asking the council to reconsider the move.
Esther Rechenmacher, a Willow Glen resident, agreed, adding that moving City Hall downtown would discourage San Joseans from taking the light rail to the center.
"Traffic is going to be a nightmare and you're not going to have people come down and take part in your city," she said at the council meeting.
Several downtown business owners, however, spoke in favor of the move, saying it will revitalize the rundown area.
"For years there has been an invisible barrier along Fourth street," said Charles Huang, president of the East Santa Clara Street Business Association. "This city council has a chance to break down that barrier and bring investments into an area that needs it."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
