The Contra Costa County Jail of Martinez – Help Save a One-of-a-Kind Landmark
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Martinez, California has been the County seat of Contra Costa County for 170 years, and has labeled itself “Historic Martinez” for the last 50 years, with elaborate signage and marketing for tourism. In its early growth, Contra Costa County struggled to find the wealth to build quality government buildings in what was, the very wild West.
In that effort, they finally funded the 1901 Courthouse (now known as the Finance Building) and by 1903 they had built and opened the 1903 Jail. The same hand-chiseled, quality granite was used throughout both buildings. The County government buildings are deeply seated in the Historic District of our town.
The architect (Mooser II) clearly designed and crafted these structures with an amazing tribute to the architecture of the day. Especially for a jail. The arched windows and doors, the number and pattern of windows used, even the antique railing of the stairway inside, show a heart for creating elegance over industry, and pictures of other Mooser family construction exemplifies such.
National Register #82002249 Pioneer Woolen Mills and D. Ghirardelli Company 900 North Point Street Built 1862 The Pioneer Woolen Mill, located in Ghirardelli Square, was designed by Swiss-born architect William Sebastian Mooser and is one of San Francisco’s oldest buildings.
From this one extant building, came the Mooser dynasty in San Francisco. Mooser II, a son, being the first appointed architect and building code author for San Francisco as well as designer of many buildings throughout California which became among some of the most valued landmarks of government design and use.
An excerpt of a letter to the County from Architect Robert L. Ooley, FAIA, 3-Diamond Fellow states, “In addition to your jail being designed by this venerable architectural dynasty, it is one of the only remaining free-standing jails of the period in California. Mooser was able to express a highly sophisticated Palladium-based architectural design while also responding to the needs of jail operations that included cells for women and those with mental illness.”
In the late 1950’s the County, removed the cupola of the Courthouse only to find they had errored in the engineering report and it would have lasted another 100 years, all too late.
The Architectural Preservation Foundation of Contra Costa County has been working to save the 1903 Jail that is listed on the National Register of Historic Preservation, from a train barreling out of control, demolition without public input.
In 2015, the current Board of Supervisors once again put the buildings on the chopping block and the APFCCC was able to intervene to get time to find someone with financing to take over these as projects to save them.
We have found developers with 100 years of experience preserving historical buildings, that are willing to spend the money to save the 1903 jail and preserve its exterior and restore as much of the inside as possible, including earthquake retrofitting on only the interior with no exterior bolting, and turn it into a jail themed restaurant with history museum features inside. The Courthouse has recently been restored by the County and continues to be used as a Finance Bldg.
Historic stories we could include in the restaurant could feature the 1944 Port Chicago disaster (Port Chicago Disaster) which the 1903 has survived such blasts that other buildings in the area did not remain so untouched. 1903 and 1944 jails have survived earthquakes over the decades as well.
Last month, we learned the new plan is to turn the entire jail area into a large modern concrete plaza, with complete disregard for the historic identity of our downtown.
The continuing lawsuit over process flaws, environmental injustice, lack of transparency and public input is keeping them from being demolished for the time being.
The historic fabric of our community could be forever harmed as the history, the learning, disappears before our eyes, and the example will be to use heavy hitter attorneys and taxpayer monies to fight the people. Architecture, history and the story our buildings tell, are a significant part of our DNA and must be preserved for the future.
Early on, the County told us they WANTED to save the 1903. We want them to keep their promises. We are trying to save the ONLY free-standing, (Mooser designed) 1903 jail and it is here, in Martinez, California. We hope you can join us!
To help support our efforts, please consider donating and visiting: https://go.rallyup.com/aed19f/Campaign/Details
You can reach us at: mailto:apfofccc@gmail.com
Unfortunately, the county failed to dismantle the old jail when the new one was completed in 1981. I am curious in 20 years will this group be fighting to preserve the old Juvenile Hall on Glacier Dr. ? Only the public sector could allow for a building to sit derelict for 40 years and when finally determined to do what should have been done years ago be meet with resistance from community members wanting to preserve buildings that provide absolutely no value to the community except as storage for records. The county condemned numerous homes to build the new jail and no mitigation was provided to build new structures to compensate for the loss. The dungeon you now want to preserve was inhumane and a nuisance when it was operational.The jail should be removed and in its place a high rise residential structure constructed, providing for the number of units destroyed by the construction of the new jail. The county was not the only guilty party at the time, Shell managed to purchase and destroy an entire neighborhood (to build a parking lot that is never used) located near the intersection of Marina Vista and Shell Avenue. The county needs to be compelled to dismantle the old Juvenile Hall so the land can be properly utilized. In our current housing crisis allowing for derelict building to sit for years should be a public offense.
So that the land could be utilized? what is the hurry Martinez is a historical sleepy space can be utilized why not leave beautiful historical blog’s and build new godly ones elsewhere. Razing these blog’s changes a quaint town and will never be the same some towns were not meant to be growing and MTZ is one of them.
You hit on so many subjects, sir, it is hard to respond but I will try. 1. Everytime the county tried to pull the historic jail down for the last 30 years, it was met with not only community outrage, they came to the table with ways to use it as an asset. And this time was no different than that. The programs we designed for its use and the ZERO$$ that the county would have to put into saving it, made it an absolute win but -in case you dont LIVE here, it was removed last year so your arguments are quite late. 2. Juvenile Hall still stands and has not been determined “surplus” at least publically, like the 1903 Jail was. It is still in use by the County for large amounts of file storage and it saves the county quite a bit of money to utilize their forgotten buildings instead of rent space or build it. Although I would agree, I have often worries that the county will pull the same bait and switch they did with the old Jail. 3. Your remembrances of the old jail are myopic and dont allow for critical thinking or better outcomes. It was built with labor of jail inmates and masons working hand in hand, learning a new trade while building what was considered one of its kind at that time and celebrated (and you can still see some of its lost beauty in the ORIGINAL Courthouse building that was built alongside of it, and was remodeled. Also, we collected many stories from people who spent time in those jails and remembered them as times they learned how to grow up. Learned how to get along with others including officers, and even officers who remembered inmates fondly. Your myopic vision is very selfish it would seem when it is about tearing it down instead of preserving it for a future of teaching others. We had a program designed for youth from Boys Ranch to display their art, for a Cultural Arts center, and workshops on living side by side with compassion. But it is all gone now. Now you will be able to complain about the homeless sleeping in the courtyard where the county has no plan for cleanup at nights, or patrols. Be careful what you wish for. I hope you will help us save the old Juv Hall!
Thank you Ms Collins! I agree and wish we could have been successful! We raised nearly $30,000 and it wasn’t enough to pay for the ongoing battle in court with the county. We have a majority of Board members with “agendas” that we were unsuccessful in penetrating, But our hope will always be to save Martinez as the lovely, friendly, and quiant historic community it struggles to still be!