If only every day were Saturday…then Red Phone would never sleep in its constant quest to answer the questions of concerned locals. Got a question, need an answer? Red Phone is just a call away – always listening, always online, always at 635-9219.
Terrazzo, Merrazzo – what’s the difference
The first caller to the Crimson Crusader this week wonders what happened to a little slice of downtown history.
“I was just wondering about the remodel of the downtown and in front of the old state theater their used to be that old merrazzo, – I think that’s what it was called, that old world tiling I guess – and I remember a couple years ago there was a move to save it or preserve it or something like that and I was just wondering if anybody thought of saving a part of that for posterity. I was just wondering that because I walked by there the other day and obviously it had been removed and remodeled.”
Well, it was wasn’t a merrazzo, which Red Phone doesn’t even think is a word, but in a word, yes the historic terrazzo was saved thanks to efforts by members of the San Benito Historical Society. A terrazzo is defined as: A flooring material of marble or stone chips set in mortar and polished when dry. Sharlene Van Rooy, of the San Benito Chamber of Commerce, said the terrazzo was removed in three pieces with the help David Huboi, Gordon Machado and others (herself included) and it now sits in the city’s yard, at least for now. The group will hold a meeting on Monday to decide how to best allocate the remaining $300 plus change in their budget to reinstall the terrazzo now that the sidewalk renovation is done. The group will present their plan to the city soon and soon the terrazzo will be back downtown.
Casino Quandary
Another caller said they were frustrated because they could not attend Thursday’s casino meeting at the Veterans Memorial Building.
“I’m very glad we had some people with knowledge about Indian gaming come to Hollister, but the scheduling of the meeting couldn’t have been worse. It happened right in the middle of the afternoon when I have to work and I wonder how many people who would have wanted to attend the event were unable to. Our local leaders need to think about the people who elect them during these kinds of meeting and schedule them when it’s convenient for the public, not for them.”
Considering the meeting was centered around visiting county supervisors presentations and it did last over 3 hours, it’s hard to expect the presenters to want to schedule the meeting in the evening then travel home. They came because they were invited by our supervisors and were willing to share their experience. It was a favor. For those that did miss the meeting, however, CMAP was on-hand with a live broadcast and announced, at the meeting, they would air the important information “several more times.” CMAP will rebroadcast the meeting today at 10am to 2pm, Sunday 10am to 2pm, Monday noon to 4pm, Wednesday 7 to 11pm, and Friday 2 to 6pm all on cable channel 20, according to CMAP.
