Theresa Harrington on Thursday had a long article about the newly approved library plan. She quotes Save Civic Park founder Adriel Hampton about a desire to see car-sharing spaces and a free downtown shuttle stop at the new library. ... As you can see from these two maps from the Contra Costa Times, the new library concept, left, is substantially different from the plan that went along with Measure R, right, with less impact on the existing park and underground parking instead of a mega garage. ...
3 comments:
I wonder if the Maxwell's would reconsider their stance on the property they own. The community would be forever indebted to them for their consideration. What a gift they could provide to future generations in Walnut Creek. I'm not suggesting that they not be compensated / assisted with relocation etc. We could provide a history of that property to display at the new library or name a portion of the project in their name. Look at the possibilities on the site plans. Talk about saving civic park!
I'm sure the City will continue to make overtures to the Maxwells. I think our position on this issue is pretty clear from earlier writings. I understand that planners are optomistic on the creek walk design even without acquisition of this private property.
The short version of our negotiations with the City is that they offered roughly half of what we had professionally determined to be "fair market value" for the land and an additional figure for the differential (the value of our house versus the cost of buying a new house). There was absolutely nothing for relocation and restoration of the Casa, so our home, if we left it, would almost certainly be destroyed. In consultations with different land and property preservation specialists and attorneys, when dealing with acquisition of historic properties it is impossible to place a dollar value on historic integrity, which is permanently lost when a structure is relocated. What can be estimated is the value of the land to be taken, the cost of moving the structure, the cost of restoration, the purchase price of the land to move the structure to and the moving expenses as well as the cost of a temporary dwelling for the family during relocation. The City was unwilling to negotiate any of these points and chose to withdraw their offer as well as their plans towards acquisition, much to my and my family's relief. I must emphasize that we, my husband, mother, siblings, children and extended family, had the preservation of our family home as paramount in our minds when negotiationg with the City. Our first preference is to remain where we are, but defending the right to own our private property is an expensive and exhausting business, especially since it happened over and over and over again. If I include my great grandmother, my grandmother and my mother, my family has had to spend thousands and thousands of dollars just to keep hanging on to what we have left. Don't forget, the Library is on what was the front half of our original property. I am very optimistic about the City really leaving us alone and also enabling us to co-exist with the Library. So far so good. I do acknowledge that our little piece of Walnut Creek heaven would be a wonderful addition to the Park. I wish my family were wealthy enough to consider making some kind of arrangement with the City whereby the Casa could be an historic resource for our whole community, but that is not an option unless I win the Lottery, but since I never play, it is not going to happen! :-) For now you will have to content yourself with knocking on my door and saying hello. I would be glad to show you around.
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