The Hollister Downtown Association will showcase the historic
buildings of downtown in a walking tour brochure, which will be
released during a kick-off gathering Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. starting at
the Veterans Memorial Building.
The tour
– featuring nearly 60 sites that include mostly homes, but also
civic buildings and a park – has been in the works for more than a
year. The HDA put together the brochure – which includes a short
history of Hollister and photos or renderings of the buildings,
along with historic explanations f
or each.
The Hollister Downtown Association will showcase the historic buildings of downtown in a walking tour brochure, which will be released during a kick-off gathering Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. starting at the Veterans Memorial Building.
The tour – featuring nearly 60 sites that include mostly homes, but also civic buildings and a park – has been in the works for more than a year. The HDA put together the brochure – which includes a short history of Hollister and photos or renderings of the buildings, along with historic explanations for each.
Seven local artists rendered the pictures in the brochure. The artists are: Pat Zuniga, Terry Hagins, Kathleen Sheridan, Shannon Grissom, David Huboi, Greg Bales and Anita Kane. The San Benito County Historical Society donated the photos.
“I applaud the HDA and making this thing happen,” said Sheridan, who rendered two buildings.
The artists each selected which buildings they would render from the list, according to Huboi, a local architect.
“I’m flattered to be part of such a distinguished group of artists,” Huboi said.
The tour was planned to last about an hour, while the brochure guides residents along the route. The gathering Oct. 18 will is open to the public, and refreshments will be served.
There have been previous walking tours to highlight the city’s architecture, but those are outdated, according to HDA Director Liz Kresky. And the new walking tour will include commercial structures for the first time.
One of the primary reasons the HDA organized the walking tour was to increase “foot traffic” downtown, according to Kresky.
“Downtown Hollister has a lot of historic homes that people living in the area don’t even know about,” Kresky said.
After the initial tour, the brochures will be available at the HDA, San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, City Hall, the Historical Society and many downtown business locations. The brochure, titled “Welcome to Historic Downtown Hollister,” will cost $3.
The HDA is a nonprofit association of downtown businesses, property owners and volunteers. Among its objectives, the HDA strives to increase the presence of people downtown, promote retail success and recruit businesses. The HDA office is located at 360 Sixth Street.
The Design Committee members who organized the project for the HDA included Chairperson Gordon Machado, Sharlene Van Rooy, David Huboi, Gina Grasso, Maria de Leon, Anita Kane and Kresky.
Details: For more information, call 636-8406.
