To the casual observer, the historic Veterans Memorial Building on Main Street looks much the same as it always did–only brighter and shinier.
And that is exactly what everyone involved in the year-long renovation project hoped to accomplish. Restoring the 1933 building’s outward appearance, while modernizing its antiquated infrastructure, was the goal of the just-completed $4.8-million renovation at 301 Main St.
“The building is 75 years old,” said Eileen Morley Hofstadt, the city’s community services manager, who is overseeing the project. “Building codes have changed dramatically in that time. There wasn’t air conditioning, which made it very uncomfortable in the summer. The electrical and plumbing were all vintage ’32. We needed to make it safer and more comfortable, and we wanted to bring the building back to its original luster.”
The new coat of paint and polished fixtures belie the true changes of the massive construction project. Now, the vintage building boasts all new electrical and plumbing, seismically strengthened walls and ceiling, a fire sprinkler system, an air conditioning and heating system, additional bathrooms, and a fully modernized catering kitchen. Also, ramps have been added to the front and side entrances to the building to make it accessible for people in wheelchairs.
For a closer look at the newly improved building, Pleasanton residents are invited to attend the city’s rededication ceremony at 1 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 7. The free, public event will celebrate the newly restored building with presentations by members of the American Legion Post 237, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6298, and city officials, including Mayor Jennifer Hosterman. In addition to music by the Travis Brass Quintet U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West, the ceremony will also pay tribute to those who have and are serving in the armed forces.
“I hope Pleasanton comes out for this,” Hofstadt said. “It is such an opportunity to come together and celebrate this building and our veterans as a community.”
Residents should note that Main Street will be closed between Bernal Avenue and Abbie Street and Old Bernal Avenue will be closed between Main Street and Peters Avenue beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow through 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7 to accommodate the ceremony.
Following the ceremony, the building will be open for tours until 5 p.m. Additionally, the city is hosting a USO-themed Gala Dance on Saturday, Oct. 13. In a nod to the building’s original opening year, tickets are $19.33 per couple and are available in the Parks and Community Services office at 200 Old Bernal Ave.
“We’ll have a new floor, a new building and a USO Hornet band,” Hofstadt said. “We’re encouraging people to wear period costumes, which could really be anything since the USO is still in existence.”
When the Veterans Memorial Building first opened in 1933, it was hailed as “one of the most up-to-date structures of its kind in the state,” according to a newspaper article from that time. The building was one of 10 in Alameda County designed by architect Henry H. Meyers and constructed for $38,000, Hofstadt noted.
Pleasanton native Tony Cavestri, 83, remembers when the building was constructed and attended the original dedication ceremony in 1933 with his father, who was a member of Pleasanton’s American Legion Post 237. His dad was also the building’s first custodian and Cavestri spent countless hours of his youth helping his dad clean the building, mow the lawn and wash dishes.
When his father passed away in 1952, the county asked Cavestri to take over temporarily until a replacement could be found. Cavestri retained his title as part-time “janitor-custodian-building engineer” for the next 37 years, finally relinquishing his role in 1989.
“My kids used to call it my second home,” Cavestri said.
Cavestri, who served in the Air Force during World War II and is a lifetime member of the American Legion and a charter member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the rededication ceremony on Sunday. He is one of only five remaining charter members of the VFW post, he noted.
The American Legion has occupied the building since it opened, and the VFW post has been there since it formed in 1946.
The city began using the building in 1969, took over managing it in 1979 and finally purchased it for $1 from the county in 1997. The effort to renovate the Veterans Hall has been underway since 2000.
“When we took over the building from the county, we received a lot of original documents,” Hofstadt said.
That included the original building specifications, which are hand-typed on vellum, maintenance records that are hand-recorded in pencil, as well as boxes of other historic documents Hofstadt now has in her office.
“I love that we have these still,” she said.
The Veterans Hall, which has a maximum capacity of 220 people, is one of the most used facilities in Pleasanton, Hofstadt said. Now that it is re-opening, it is already booked through September 2008, she said. Reservations are taken by appointment only from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. An appointment time may be reserved by calling 931-5340.
Classes are held in the building during the week and weekend events often include weddings, birthdays and anniversaries, Hofstadt said.
The building closed to the public last August and the rededication ceremony will be its official grand opening for the public. The American Legion and VFW posts were able to move their items back in at the end of September. There are two rooms–a social room and a formal meeting room–that are inaccessible to the public and strictly reserved for the veterans.
For the vets, the building is more than a meeting place. It is almost considered sacred ground, explained Dave Ham, commander of the VFW post.
“That is our haven. After Vietnam, when vets came home, it was the one place they felt safe. It’s our shrine. This is a real sanctuary for us,” said Ham. “We now have vets returning from Iraq. The Veterans Hall is the one place they can come to and they feel at home. It’s the one place where they will speak openly about their experiences. You can get things off your chest without criticism or being challenged.”
Joe Stieber, commander of the American Legion, said many veterans have a strong emotional attachment to the Veterans Hall.
“It’s patriotic history. You have a group of people getting together to preserve their friendship and their camaraderie for posterity,” he said.
For more than a year, construction workers painstakingly labored behind a chain-link barricade to bring the old building up to date, without changing its outward appearance.
To seismically strengthen the building, the roof was removed, steel columns were installed and attached to the existing concrete walls. The roof was seismically sheeted with plywood and the original, handmade terra cotta barrel tiles were re-attached. While the roof tiles were off the building, they were stored at the closed downtown fire station, she said.
All light fixtures inside and outside the building were cleaned, restored and rewired, she said, explaining that they had to work with the updated electrical system.
People often ask her if the two black iron and glass sconces on the front of the building are new, Hofstadt said. Actually, they are original to the building, but were well hidden from view by two trees that were recently removed. Similarly, the star-shaped glass fixture hanging over the entrance is original. It’s been cleaned, polished and restored, and now really stands out at night, she said.
The velvet, cabernet-colored window coverings in the main hall as well as the matching curtains on the stage are all new, but the maple hardwood floors are original to the building and were simply refinished. Similarly, the open-beam wooden ceiling is original and was dusted clean during the renovation. Now, hand-painted stenciling on the bottom cross beams is more visible.
“It looks fantastic. I am in awe when I walk through that building,” Stieber said. “The attention to detail to keep it circa the 1930s is amazing.”
“We are pretty excited about the re-opening. The hall has always been a monument and a place where veterans go,” Ham said. “Every Saturday we meet for coffee. It doesn’t matter if you are a World War II vet, a Korean War-, Vietnam- or Iraqi War vet. You’re all welcome. When you walk in, there’s a camaraderie that’s unbelievable.”
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