Group fundraises for phase 2 of the Dance Hall rebuild
The San Benito County Historical Society is planning to raise
the roof of the Dunneville Dance Hall, starting with an Aug. 20
fundraiser at the Historical Park in Tres Pinos.
”
The foundation has been put in,
”
said Don Pidd, the caretaker of the San Benito County Historical
Park on Airline Highway just north of Bolado Park.
”
We will be doing this in stages over the next couple years. The
next stage is to raise the roof. We want to build it, and ideally,
have it raised by the end of the year.
”
Group fundraises for phase 2 of the Dance Hall rebuild
The San Benito County Historical Society is planning to raise the roof of the Dunneville Dance Hall, starting with an Aug. 20 fundraiser at the Historical Park in Tres Pinos.
“The foundation has been put in,” said Don Pidd, the caretaker of the San Benito County Historical Park on Airline Highway just north of Bolado Park. “We will be doing this in stages over the next couple years. The next stage is to raise the roof. We want to build it, and ideally, have it raised by the end of the year.”
How quickly the project moves along depends on how quickly Society members can raise the $20,000 to $30,000 it will take to raise the roof.
The “Raise the Roof” fundraiser is Aug. 20, from 5 to 10 p.m., and will include a chicken and tri-tip barbecue catered by Spice of Life Catering. Pidd said Wolfsen’s Sausage, of Gustine, donated sausage to the fundraiser. There will be dancing to “Flashbacks,” a ’50s band and “Buffalo Canyon Band,” which plays classic country. The event will also feature gifts, raffle prizes and a no-host bar. Tickets are $49 each, $90 for a couple or $500 for a team table for 10. The team table includes reserved seating, the name of your team on a placard at the table, supper, dancing and special treats.
The Dunneville Dance Hall was moved to the Historical Park in 1992, but on New Year’s Day in 2006, a storm caused the front of the building to fall outward and the rest of the building collapsed around it.
The historical society’s board of directors removed as many artifacts as possible from the site and relocated them. The plan has always been to rebuild the dance hall and the society members raised enough in 2010 to put in the foundation.
“Once we have the roof up, we will have a canopy event area to have other fundraisers,” Pidd said.
He said that the board of directors will allow the space to be rented out as well, and that they have allowed a few other buildings to be rented for special events such as a wedding in the school house building.
The dance hall will be 18,000 square feet.
“It’s going to be a good place to have meetings and group events,” Pidd said. “And small events, like wedding receptions.”
Before the Dance Hall collapsed in the storm it had been used for a Chamber of Commerce mixer and as a faux hospital during the Civil War Days reenactment at the park.
The original Dunneville Dance Hall was built in 1890 by Leonard Arlington Chase, according to a release from the Historical Society. In 1918, Chester Bromley bought the site and in 1921 it was moved to face San Felipe Road. The building was used as a mechanic, electrician and phone line installer shop, as well as for Grunow Radio Sales and Repair. The building was moved to the historical park in three sections after the roof was removed.
Pidd said some of the great-grandchildren of Chase will be attending the fundraiser.
After the roof is up on the building, fundraising will begin for the last phase of putting up the walls. Pidd said the plan is to model the construction after the original, but since it is new construction it will have to meet current building codes.
“The new construction codes will be a little bit stricter,” he said. “We will try to model it after the original.”
The “Raise the Roof” fundraiser is Aug. 20, from 5 to 10 p.m., and will include a chicken and tri-tip barbecue catered by Spice of Life Catering. There will be dancing to “Flashbacks,” a ’50s band and “Buffalo Canyon Band,” which plays classic country. The event will also feature gifts, raffle prizes and a no-host bar.
Tickets are $49 each, $90 for a couple or $500 for a team table for 10. The team table includes reserved seating, the name of your team on a placard at the table, supper, dancing and special treats. Tickets are available at the 19th Hole and Flapjacks restaurants in Tres Pinos, at the Community Foundation, in Hollister, or by calling Don Pidd at 902-9349 or e-mailing [email protected].
