Designed by local architect William Binder, and built in 1911 by prominent businessman C.T. Montgomery, the Montgomery Hotel was the first hotel in San Jose to be built with electrical fixtures and private baths. It is eligible for the National Register of Historical Places and is on the California Register. It's early use of reinforced concrete and ties to important San Jose figures give it historical importance, but it had been sitting empty after suffering damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
An expansion to the Fairmont Hotel had proposed razing the 1911 hotel. PAC*SJ vehemently opposed the loss of this downtown asset. To save the building we submitted our comments on the EIR for the demolition of the Montgomery Hotel. However the Planning Commission Certified the EIR in November 1997, and the project in the Spring 1998.
We added a cause of action concerning the Montgomery Hotel to our existing lawsuit against the city on the Jose Theatre. At this point our litigation was the only thing preventing demolition.
The City Council voted in June 1999 to save the hotel by relocating it, allowing the Fairmont Hotel Expansion to take place without change.
On January 29, 2000, the Montgomery Hotel was moved to its new location 186 feet south of its original site. The relocation was an amazing feat, breaking records for the heaviest building ever moved. The hotel weighed 9.6 million pounds and special equipment was built for the project. Special remote controlled machinery was placed under the structure which inched along for more than 3 hours before reaching its destination. The move cost over $12 million.
The City approved the expenditure of $10.2 million for siesmic upgrades and historic restoration. Divco West Group will spend another $15.2 million to turn the the building into a 86-room boutique hotel with a restaurant which should open sometime in 2004.
Although the building was saved, there were significant impacts to it and its setting. The beautiful annex and ballroom, built in 1917, had to be demolished for the move. Read a letter of our concerns on the effects of the relocation.
The San Francisco based Architectural Research Group documented the historical designs and salvaged some materials prior to relocation that will be used in the rehabilitation.
Here is the original 1911 floor plan of the first floor of the hotel.
SJ Underbelly has some more pictures of the Montgomery, as well as other historic and otherwise interesting sights in San Jose. This is a favorite site for the "loyal opposition."