An 83-year-old church in downtown San Jose has been granted historic landmark status after years of fighting invasive development proposals that could have demolished the house of worship.
Grace Baptist Church at 484 E. San Fernando St. has been designated a historic landmark for its architectural and cultural value. The San Jose City Council’s decision on Sept. 24 protects the church from any future development. The church, built in 1941, is a blend of Gothic Revival and Art Deco features. San Jose architectural firm Binder & Curtis designed the church.
Grace Baptist Church moderator Jeanne Wardrip said church leaders have been working toward gaining historic recognition from the city for months and the congregation is thrilled it’s been approved.
“Preserving the church was hard,” Wardrip told San José Spotlight. “We did not want it torn down for development and wanted to keep a church here on the corner — so that’s what we’ve done. We’ll have development around us, but this church is going to stay here.”
She said a recent proposal to redevelop the parcel threatened to tear down the church in favor of housing just before San Jose leaders began considering Grace Baptist Church as a historical landmark.
Then-incoming pastor, the Rev. George Oliver, favored granting church land to housing developers to the disapproval of the Historic Landmarks Commission. Grace Baptist Church later cut ties with Oliver, whom Wardrip described as “not so nice.”
Oliver said the development was necessary because the church was falling into debt due in part to declining membership and quality of the facilities.
“This church has a great and stellar history, but the ethics of the group of people that just won this victory are deplorable,” he told San José Spotlight.
Homeless advocates who work in the church worried the proposed development would force them out and stop essential services they have provided for years.
Ben Leech, Preservation Action Council of San Jose executive director, said church members reached out to his group during housing development discussions to help lobby the city for historic landmark status. He said the Preservation Action Council funded half the cost of a mandatory historical analysis while the church paid for the rest.
With its newly-awarded status, Leech said church leaders no longer have to worry about losing the entire site to future developments.
“It is a fairly large piece of land that the church sits on, and you don’t need to knock down everything to be able to develop some of that land for other uses,” he told San José Spotlight. “Our intention was to prevent its demolition, but also recognizing that there could be another developer in the future, if given the terms, like wanting to keep the church but develop other parts of the land — that could be an area of compromise.”
District 3 Councilmember Omar Torres first nominated the church to be considered as a historic landmark during a May 7 council meeting.
“For decades, Grace Baptist Church has played a vital role in civil rights and peace activism, serving as a sanctuary for the underserved. Designating it as a city landmark preserves a key piece of our city’s heritage, including its 100-year-old organ,” he told San José Spotlight.
The church is home to Grace Solutions which offers shelter beds, showers and other supportive services. It is also home to the Unhoused Response Group, another homeless advocacy group that has done memorials and packs survival backpacks in the church. Wardrip said they have several rooms in the Victorian house and apartments at 132 S. 10th St. for homeless residents.
“We have a very rich history of being active in the community, and as a very American Baptist liberal church, we accept anyone that wants to come,” Wardrip told San José Spotlight. “We’re very, very happy to preserve the church.”
Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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