Council members approved a resolution Tuesday that allows the Hollister Downtown Association to use $5,000 – passed through the city from the Council of San Benito County Governments – for renovations to the tunnel under Fourth Street leading to the new courthouse.
The HDA project has been in the design phase while awaiting construction of the new $36 million courthouse, which is just months from completion.
The organization, spearheaded by a task force comprised of business owners Gordon Machado and architect David Huboi, is planning to create a mural in the 80- to 90-foot walkway tunnel focused on the property’s history.
Machado spoke at Tuesday’s council meeting and said the COG money would go toward painting, lighting and a security system. Other funds would go toward paying an artist to render images of the three buildings that were on the property before the new courthouse – Col. William Welles Hollister’s home, the Hollister Grammar School and Fremont School.
The mural itself was built in 1924, Machado said.
“We’d like to get it on some kind of registry as a historical piece,” Machado said.
