Benicia Landmark Slated for Makeover
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
Jan. 12, 2004
BENICIA -- In a 157-year-old city, this fixer-upper is a real humdinger.
The windows are boarded up. The floors and stairways groan. The roof leaks. Walls are unstable. The white paint has lost its once opulent gloss.
Hardly anyone bothers to stop by.
The historic Commanding Officers Quarters, a spectacular building that predates the Civil War, has masked its notability by its own dour appearance.
But the 20-room mansion, which rests on a grassy knoll at the Benicia Arsenal, is poised for a serious upgrade. The first step of an $800,000 rehabilitation project is under way, one that aims to stabilize and secure a mighty city landmark ravaged by age.
The job is being funded by a $400,000 grant from the state Office of Historic Preservation, which the city matched. Carey & Co. Inc. of San Francisco, an architectural firm with a flair for historic preservation, is sketching out restoration plans and identifying weak spots.
Construction could start by March 2005, a job that will involve seismically retrofitting the building, repairing the roof, sealing windows, fixing floors and adding fresh paint and new lights.
"At this stage, primarily, we want to protect the building from further deterioration," said Michael Alvarez, director of parks and community services.
City officials say it will cost about $2 million to return the 144-year-old building to near its old glory, which could pave the way for public use.
For Benicians, the structure represents the early days of a city that rolled out the welcome mat to the first Army post west of the Mississippi.
"I think it's the second most historic building in the city, next to the (former) state Capitol," said Jerry Hayes, a former mayor and past president of the Benicia Historical Society.
The building, also called the commandant's residence, shares a hillside property near a sandstone clock tower built in 1859. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places.
But the two-story mansion slipped into fast decay during the past two decades. A restaurant had operated in the building for several years until shutting down in the early 1980s.
No one knew what to do. Renovations were too costly. Plans fell apart, with the scope of the project always just out of reach. The house, which features attractive pillars and 14-foot ceilings, was built in 1860 by Julian McAllister, the arsenal's commanding officer at the time.
With wood in short supply, McAllister had the materials shipped around Cape Horn. He crafted a beautiful home of classic Georgian architecture. Soon, the large residence became a popular gathering place for the region's elite, who cruised by steamship from San Francisco.
The building began to erode when the Army pulled out of the Arsenal in the early 1960s.
Today, the commandant's residence is an empty shell. Inside, it is dank and dark. Wallpaper curls and sags in every room.
A 24-step staircase creaks all the way to the second floor, whose large bedrooms have fireplaces and attractive bay windows.
In the basement, which is solidified by 24-inch-thick brick walls, the sandstone foundation is crumbling to dust.
In its proposal, Carey & Co. outlined a plan to repair floors, balustrade and columns, a portion of the roof, doors and wood porches and to reinforce the brick columns in the basement. The plan includes strengthening unreinforced brick chimneys and reinforcing the connections between roofs and floors.
Representatives from Carey & Co. did not return a phone call for comment.
Councilman Dan Smith said the rehabilitation will go a long way toward sparing one of the city's cherished landmarks.
"I think it could be used for some kind of conference center, or a museum use may be interesting," he said. "I hope it becomes a bit of a tourist attraction."
Contra Costa Newspapers
Jan. 12, 2004
BENICIA -- In a 157-year-old city, this fixer-upper is a real humdinger.
The windows are boarded up. The floors and stairways groan. The roof leaks. Walls are unstable. The white paint has lost its once opulent gloss.
Hardly anyone bothers to stop by.
The historic Commanding Officers Quarters, a spectacular building that predates the Civil War, has masked its notability by its own dour appearance.
But the 20-room mansion, which rests on a grassy knoll at the Benicia Arsenal, is poised for a serious upgrade. The first step of an $800,000 rehabilitation project is under way, one that aims to stabilize and secure a mighty city landmark ravaged by age.
The job is being funded by a $400,000 grant from the state Office of Historic Preservation, which the city matched. Carey & Co. Inc. of San Francisco, an architectural firm with a flair for historic preservation, is sketching out restoration plans and identifying weak spots.
Construction could start by March 2005, a job that will involve seismically retrofitting the building, repairing the roof, sealing windows, fixing floors and adding fresh paint and new lights.
"At this stage, primarily, we want to protect the building from further deterioration," said Michael Alvarez, director of parks and community services.
City officials say it will cost about $2 million to return the 144-year-old building to near its old glory, which could pave the way for public use.
For Benicians, the structure represents the early days of a city that rolled out the welcome mat to the first Army post west of the Mississippi.
"I think it's the second most historic building in the city, next to the (former) state Capitol," said Jerry Hayes, a former mayor and past president of the Benicia Historical Society.
The building, also called the commandant's residence, shares a hillside property near a sandstone clock tower built in 1859. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places.
But the two-story mansion slipped into fast decay during the past two decades. A restaurant had operated in the building for several years until shutting down in the early 1980s.
No one knew what to do. Renovations were too costly. Plans fell apart, with the scope of the project always just out of reach. The house, which features attractive pillars and 14-foot ceilings, was built in 1860 by Julian McAllister, the arsenal's commanding officer at the time.
With wood in short supply, McAllister had the materials shipped around Cape Horn. He crafted a beautiful home of classic Georgian architecture. Soon, the large residence became a popular gathering place for the region's elite, who cruised by steamship from San Francisco.
The building began to erode when the Army pulled out of the Arsenal in the early 1960s.
Today, the commandant's residence is an empty shell. Inside, it is dank and dark. Wallpaper curls and sags in every room.
A 24-step staircase creaks all the way to the second floor, whose large bedrooms have fireplaces and attractive bay windows.
In the basement, which is solidified by 24-inch-thick brick walls, the sandstone foundation is crumbling to dust.
In its proposal, Carey & Co. outlined a plan to repair floors, balustrade and columns, a portion of the roof, doors and wood porches and to reinforce the brick columns in the basement. The plan includes strengthening unreinforced brick chimneys and reinforcing the connections between roofs and floors.
Representatives from Carey & Co. did not return a phone call for comment.
Councilman Dan Smith said the rehabilitation will go a long way toward sparing one of the city's cherished landmarks.
"I think it could be used for some kind of conference center, or a museum use may be interesting," he said. "I hope it becomes a bit of a tourist attraction."
posted by Corey at 9:14 PM
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