The Concord City Council could on Tuesday start the process to find someone to rehabilitate, use and maintain a historic building and grounds on the city’s north side.
The council’s Committee on Recreation, Cultural Affairs and Community Services had already asked city staff to prepare a “request for proposals” seeking qualified parties to rehabilitate the Don Fernando Pacheco Adobe building and grounds, on Grant Street near Olivera Road.
The adobe, built in the mid-1800s, is considered an important Concord historical landmark, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The city acquired the building and surrounding property in 1979 from Contra Costa County with the proviso that the property be used “for the purposes of public park and recreation and for the preservation of the historical aspect of the site.”
From 1940 until this past October, the Contra Costa Horsemen’s Association had leased the property, maintaining it and using it for equestrian events.
According to a city staff report, the adobe building has experienced deterioration over time, including settlement, which has caused interior walls to buckle and crack. Homeowners who are also planning to renovate their homes may need to work with a kitchen contractor and an interior designer.
Foundation stabilization is necessary, as is retrofitting of un-reinforced masonry consistent with the city building codes and historical building codes, together with other structural and aesthetic work. The city, the report says, doesn’t have the money for this work.
Ideally, the city would have someone selected and ready to go in August.
Tuesday’s Concord City Council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Concord City Hall, 1950 Parkside Drive.
While I like old things, this building is a money pit that should be torn down. If you want an “old time adobe” structure there as a historical show and tell piece then save some of the non-structural stuff from this building, construct the replacement frame using high quality* modern materials, and then add the stuff you saved from the original building.
* on high quality is that many structures being put up today are built using cheapest that you can source junk. The resulting buildings are falling apart in about 20 years. If the existing adobe structure has viable timber then it can be resawn for use in the replacement building.
This is exactly the response I would expect from a WC resident. A place where almost all buildings of historical significance have been wiped off the map in the name of “progress”.
I think it’s fantastic that Concord is giving folks an opportunity to rehabilitate this CCC original for everyone to enjoy and cherish for years to come.
Yeah I doubt it, you could fit 6 units on that corner and collect property taxes forever
Just guessing Contra Costa County Horsemanship’s Association is gone?
The horsemens are still around but the city wouldnt help repair for years and would not renew lease. Horsemens tried for years to get new lease and would not pay to repair building without another long term lease.
City would not agree.
I am sure there is more to it but city wants someone to pay for it all, run it and give the city all the money from tours and events there.
House the Homeless there.
The homeless are mostly down the hill hanging out in the park. I guess they like that better.
If we house the Homeless there, Gav will pay for the upkeep ….Win Win….
It would be a shame to let that little bit Concord’s history fall into the pile of dirt from which it was built. The attic has a number of large hand hewn timbers. I’m surprise that the building is settling after 200 years.
The other Pacheco adobe on Adobe St. is privately owned and is a gorgeous building.
Ashes to ashes…
It can’t be that much of a shame if nobody is willing to stand up and fight for it.
Honest question, what do you think would be the benefits of investing in the preservation of this old adobe? What will future generations learn from this one, specifically? Is it any different than others?
I wish they would keep it open. It would be great for kids to possibly have something to do that’s positive
I hope they do keep it open cross my finger it stays alive and no one makes more stupid houses on it 😖to many houses not any old stuff around ,I love seen things like this old building .i wish they would bring back the horse a arena .
So the offer is, put a bunch of money up front, then pay for upkeep with little or no hope of recovering the upkeep let alone the upfront? Where do I sign? 🤪
can we let the disk golf club take it over and help expand the course? the club has 150 members that would be willing to donate time and resources to help with up keep, etc…
The disc golf club was already given a park. Why should they be given another 5 acres? Parks should serve a diversity of needs.
Maybe Congressman George Miller III and !V could open a cannabis dispensary there.
The building is an important part of the history of Concord. It is unfortunate that the city cannot manage to find the approximately $300K needed to bring the building up to code and earthquake safety standards. The city of Dublin managed to allocate $5 million to renovate the former police station as a community arts center. There are groups that are interested in supporting the use of this property for parks and rec purposes but the timeline is very tight. The rush to renovate the building is a puzzle. Horsemen’s had the use of the property for decades as it slowly decayed…how was that allowed to happen? And why the rush now?
@concord Son – the problem is available money and return on investment. Immediately after WW2 community groups were very popular. Membership was high meaning there was plenty of money and elbow grease available for community improvement projects. These groups have been in a slow but steady decline since the late 1950s. This impacts all communities in the area.
The Horsemen’s Association was such a group with one of their projects being to take over maintenance of the Don Fernando Pacheco’s adobe mud house in Concord. The association was able to fund maintenance and occasional restoration up to the late 1970s. The city of Concord took over in 1979 and leased the property for 25 years to the Horsemen’s Association for $1 per year. The lease was extended at times and expired in October 2019.
The structure has been on deferred maintenance since 1979. It looks newly painted. I’m not sure who paid for that.
Recent city council minutes with details are at
Nov 2018 https://cityofconcord.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11192018-240 A heads up that the lease with the Horsemen is going to month to month and that likely will end as the Horsemens association is no longer financially viable. $53,704 is needed immediately and $181,496 for ten years of maintenance.
Apr 2019 https://www.cityofconcord.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04172019-418 The month to month leasing will be ending in the future.
Aug 2019 http://www.cityofconcord.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08212019-493 The month to month lease ends in October 2019. A summary of the history.
Jan 2020 https://www.cityofconcord.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01152020-601 Has details on the work that’s needed.
https://www.cityofconcord.org/840/Don-Fernando-Pacheco-Adobe See the right sidebar which has engineering drawings but, unfortunately, no photos from the projects.
There may be more but the above provide a lot of detail, including copies of the lease contracts, the maintenance projects the Horsemen have planned, are working on, and completed. It appears the city of Concord has also spent about $5000 per year on maintenance.
@Love My City – What’s your source for $300k? In the Jan 2020 minutes listed above the city estimates $100k to $200k for the caretaker residence and that it is not economically prudent. It then goes into much detail about the main adobe building but does not provide a cost estimate.
My personal guess is $4 million to fully restore and upgrade to current building codes. This is based on an estimated $1 million to construct a new building that provides similar facilities at the site. I then added $3 million of overhead to do the $1 million project with the stipulation that the existing structure be preserved. It’s a free standing pile of dried mud that would somehow need to be stabilized and then anchored.
Is it worth it to spend $4 million on a building that houses one large room plus a kitchen, bathrooms, and a bar off to the side?
Tie the concord naval weapons development to a historical preservation initiative, get it restored under that program