San Jose schools’ new buildings provide lessons in history

Hillbrook School a Los Gatos-based institution that goes back years but is just in its third year of high school cut the ribbon on a new classroom building in downtown San Jose on Friday that is steeped in history The three-story brick-and-sandstone Moir building at N First St is a real beauty from with a massive skylight that rains sunshine into its interior and charming bay windows It was one of the original work-live buildings downtown with tenants who lived on the upper floors running businesses out of the storefronts on the ground floor It served as a hotel for bulk of its life and largest part not long ago housed the offices of the Robinson Wood law firm Inside the newly renovated building for Hillbrook School in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Inside the newly renovated building for Hillbrook School in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group A welcome sign for students at Hillbrook School in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Students go inside the newly renovated building for Hillbrook School in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group People celebrate during a ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Moir Building that is now part of Hillbrook School in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Show Caption of Inside the newly renovated building for Hillbrook School in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Expand I m glad that instead of building something brand new which it could have done pretty much anywhere Hillbrook decided to bring its students to downtown San Jose and specifically to two historic but vacant buildings near St James Park that required millions of dollars of renovation That was a very intentional decision to have a school in downtown San Jose and have this idea of the city as a classroom Head of School Mark Silver reported We have these two buildings which represent square feet but we have a classroom that is an entire city Having both that building and the old San Jose Armory on North Second Street transformed into classrooms maker spaces art studios and a gym should keep those spaces vibrant for decades to come While they ve been modernized inside the exteriors have kept their classic charm The historical character of the building has been updated but hasn t been lost Silver mentioned The idea of bringing a historical building back into use is one of the the majority green and sustainable things you can do Our ability to take these two buildings and reenergize them is a huge benefit to the city and it s a huge benefit to us Hillbrook s already been a good neighbor helping to host the National Night Out event for the residents in surrounding buildings this month and asking the relatively new Hobee s restaurant on North Second Street to provide its pupil meals Of subject there s another historic structure the dilapidated First Church of Christ Scientist between Hillbrook s two buildings Wouldn t it be great if the school uncovered a way to make that part of its campus too CELEBRATION BELLS Meanwhile Bellarmine College Prep had its own dedication event Wednesday for the Wade Academic Center a square-foot building with classrooms a courtyard and and administrative offices While this is an entirely new campus building Bellarmine which celebrates its th anniversary in still paid homage to the school s history The Wade Academic Center at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose was dedicated Aug Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group It s named after the Rev Gerald Wade Bellarmine s former president and chancellor emeritus and his parents lifelong Santa Clara resident Clara Wade and Walter Wade whose family had deep roots in Alviso And in a touching gesture the school s Class of raised money to dedicate a classroom in honor of Rev Peter Pabst the chancellor of Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School Pabst taught at Bellarmine in the mid- s and when he returned to campus from to They were among the hundreds of donors who contributed to the capital campaign Legacy Inspiration Innovation An interior hallway in the Wade Academic Center at Bellarmine College Prep which was dedicated Aug welcomes students in several languages Courtesy of Craig Cozart Photography To fit the new building on campus Bellarmine could have gone the easy path and torn down everything in its way But instead of demolishing the -year-old Berchmans Hall the school moved it with plans of repurposing it for for offices and a welcome center CHAMBER S SMOKIN BBQ There were more than movers and shakers at the San Jose Chamber of Commerce s annual barbecue Thursday evening at History Park in San Jose but the sweltering temperature kept the moving and shaking to a minimum People flocked to grab a popsicle from Paleta Planeta which normally serves up its artisan Mexican frozen treats from its storefront on Fourth and Santa Clara streets and the booth staffed by downtown accounting firm PP Co which was pouring ice-cold Moscow Mules in light-up plastic cups shaped like a boot And for those not feeling the love for Moscow these days they also had bourbon and tequila versions As predicted the Waymo self-driving car was a hit with the crowd and also as predicted it did not move nor was a start date declared for San Jose operation But testing continues and sooner or later we won t have to drive ourselves around town PROVIDING A BOOST Rigo Chacon who was the longtime face of KGO-TV s newscasts in the South Bay founded his scholarship activity Abrazos Books in to help Santa Clara County students in need But he says the project is going through its toughest fundraising period in its -year history and he hasn t been able to promote it as much as he s recovering from major back surgery Chacon launched a GoFundMe last fall to raise but it lost steam about six months ago with only about percent of the goal raised With the start of the school year he s hoping there are more generous folks out there with coaching on their minds You can find out more about the campaign at www gofundme com f support-rigo-chacons-legacy-of-giving