It all began with a vision; a place to gather, to dance, to draw
and to play.
It all began with a vision; a place to gather, to dance, to draw and to play. It endured disagreements, an old building reluctant to move, rising costs and errant steel shipments but, in the end, by December 2002, Morgan Hill had a new community and cultural center to be proud of.
Vision came from “the visioning process” that the City Council set in motion in the mid-1990s to discover how residents wanted their Redevelopment Agency funds spent. The idea of a community center emerged from this visioning and captured the council’s imagination.
Disagreements arose over the size of the large room; should it hold 400 diners and be suitable for conventions? Or should it be smaller, but large enough for Morgan Hill gatherings?
It was made smaller but, oddly, center staff find they could use the larger room; council is considering adding a temporary tent soon and a permanent remodel if the RDA is renewed by voters and more money becomes available.
More disagreements arose over the function of the center. Current Councilman Mark Grzan, then a private citizen, said at the time that the community was expecting a recreation center, not necessarily a meeting center.
Residents will get their recreation center when the Indoor Recreation Center opens in August 2006 next to Community Park on West Edmundson Avenue.
Other residents objected to the number of trees, a meandering stream, a new theater, its single purpose (meetings), the crowded site and a design that didn’t say “This is Morgan Hill.”
Council heeded the criticism and altered the purpose and design.
Resident Evelyn Kobayashi suggested that, instead of building a new theater on the gro-unds, the city buy the Temple Emmanuel building next door and renovate it into a theater, which is what the council did.
The original cost of $10 million escalated to $21 million plus another $3.5 million to buy and renovate the theater/playhouse.
Adding a separate building for Gavilan College was also contentious. When the idea for the center was first dangled before the public, several residents suggested pairing the community center with a new library since, once the city builds the building, the county library systems pays for its maintenance and operations.
Council decided to build Gavilan instead. The college will pay rent for the building and part of the center’s operating costs until it needs more space and moves on sometime in the future.
The reluctant building was the former Morgan Hill Elementary School, designed by William Weeks, that opened in 1922 and housed generations of students and teachers. It closed in 1987.
When the Morgan Hill School District announced it was selling the property to the city to tear down the old school and build the center, objections from nostalgic citizens could be heard for miles.
Finally a deal was facilitated by Historical Society President Gloria Pariseau – who had early objections to demolishing the building – between her daytime boss, developer Gary Walton, and the city.
The council approved spending $600,000 to help Walton and his partners in Llagas Valley Developers to dismantle and move the stucco building to Llagas Avenue just west of Hale Avenue. Walton renovated the old school and it enjoys renewed life as Carden Academy. Thus, the site on the corner of Monterey Road and East Dunne Avenue was cleared.
A groundbreaking in October 2001 was advertised as the largest party seen in town – until the grand opening of the community center in December 2002. That black-tie affair was the first of many popular events allowing residents to dress up and party.
VBN Architects and DPR Construction did the actual design and construction.
Because of building delays the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse did not open with the Community Center and Gavilan College buildings. It opened two months later.
The city purchased the 4,000-square-foot, 1924 church and moved it 50 feet north to the corner of East Fifth Street, making room for the Gavilan building.
Greg True of ELS Architecture and Urban Design tackled the job of turning a flat-floored room into a 7,000-square-foot, slanted-floor theater and concert hall with a platform/stage, state-of the art lighting and a $35,000 sound system, all while keeping the Craftsman period feel.
True used saturated colors – rich greens, golds and brown – to achieve this. Originally he planned to paint the exterior a green to coordinate with the trim on the two larger buildings.
However, after Mayor Dennis Kennedy said he was a bit uncomfortable with the deep green, True altered the color to brown.
The renovation cost $2.5 million; Kent Construction of Gilroy did the actual reconstruction.
The Playhouse has a resident theater company – South Valley Civic Theatre – and has hosted concerts, plays, lectures, dance recitals, the Poppy Jasper Film Festival and even church services.
