HPRC Meeting Focused On Jamestown Project And Former Courthouse

Tuolumne County Image

Sonora, CA — A couple of notable projects will be reviewed by the Tuolumne County Historic Preservation Review Committee.

The group makes recommendations about projects that impact historical properties.

Last year, Tuolumne County was awarded a $1.3 million grant from Caltrans for a Jamestown revitalization project. The money must be spent by June of next year, and the work will include planting new shade trees, installing a gateway sign, replacing damaged sidewalks, and overhauling Rocca Park. The Jamestown Promotion Club is also proposing a mural be painted on the side of a building at 18211 Main Street. The HPRC commission will select the tree variety to be planted on Main Street and give some direction on the gateway sign.

In addition, there will be a presentation on one of the former courthouse buildings in downtown Sonora. We reported earlier that the county is planning to transform the historic courthouse building (located on Yaney Avenue in Courthouse Park) into county administration office space and the board of supervisors’ meeting room. The other former courthouse facility, at 60 North Washington Street, was originally constructed in 1928 as Lowell Ralph’s Chrysler Dealership. It was acquired by Tuolumne County in 1949 and in the early nineties became the “Washington Street Courthouse.”

It along with the nearby historic courthouse have both sat vacant since November of 2021 when the new facility opened on Justice Center Drive. The plan is to remodel the 60 North Washington Street building so that the Office of the Public Defender and Conflict Counsel can move in. It would cut the $49,000 in annual rent paid by the office (which currently rents a space across the street). The presentation to HPRC will be informational only.

The committee will meet at 4 pm today (August 7) inside the board of supervisors’ meeting room at 2 South Green Street in Sonora. The meetings are open to the public.