CEQA Analysis, National Register Updates, Palomar Ballroom & De Anza Hotel Historical Contexts for Mexican American Community, San Jose, CA
Client: David J. Powers & Associates, for City of San José, CA., 2005
We produced a CEQA analysis of both the Palomar Ballroom and the De Anza Hotel, which had been documented in earlier studies, and we undertook National Register updates of both properties. The De Anza Hotel was listed for its outstanding Art Deco architecture and documentation of the Hotel now includes the exterior murals, signage, and its role as the anchor of a new business district promoted by business owners in the booming fruit industry. The Palomar Ballroom in San José, California had been selected as one of one hundred sites of significance to Mexican Americans for the survey and book “Five Views” published by the California State Office of Historic Preservation in 1985. Our additional research established the Ballroom as a community cultural venue over three generations and produced the first historical context for the Mexican American community in San Jose, the Inter-War Period (1918-1945) and Industrialization and Suburbanization (1945-present).
