Historic home needs community TLC
Folsom has a "tarnished treasure" that is sorely in need of community
TLC. This treasure is an 1880s-era house commonly known as Emma's
house and also June's house. The City of Folsom acquired the house as
a mitigation measure for the city's newest bridge. Among the city's
oldest homes, it has narrowly escaped destruction several times in the
past and is once again threatened, through no fault of its own.
The City Council is tentatively scheduled to hear this item at its
March 8 meeting, and the hard truth is that the City doesn't know what
to do with the house. The house is located on the corner of
Leidesdorff and Reading streets, a block from its original location,
and is slated to have parking built around it for the new light rail
station.
Until recently, the community thought that the City itself, through
the Redevelopment Agency, would restore and use the building, but City
Hall reports indicate the Council may revisit the issue. There is now
a concerted effort by a number of community groups to find a solution
that will save this historic structure. Some ideas currently on the
table include using it as community meeting space, a police substation
(ideal next to light rail), a railroad museum, a bicycle station, a
banquet hall, an art gallery, a recital/concert hall, or as offices
for nonprofits such as the Main Street program or the fledgling arts
organizations.
The house's history is both a blessing and a curse. As a historical
structure, the building is wonderfully constructed out of old-growth
timber. Despite its outward appearance, it is in better condition than
other historic buildings Folsom has rescued. Even the old windows are
intact, and the natural light streaming through them is magical. One
can only imagine the enjoyment of the dancers and the preschoolers who
were among its past tenants.
A past owner was Joe Murer, whose home the City preserved on Folsom
Boulevard, who built a National-Register-eligible building here, and
whose hometown in Italy is our sister city. Another former owner with
deep Folsom roots was the Baker family. June Hose, whose name is
legend in Folsom, was its most recent owner (until the property passed
to City Hall). She saved the house in 1986 by moving it off a shopping
center site onto her property. Despite these illustrious past owners,
the past that appears now to be catching up with the house was its
time in the early part of the 20th century as a bordello. It was used
as a bordello for less than 20 percent of its 125-year existence.
If Council members want to revisit the issue, then they need to
reframe the issue: no one is asking for a bordello museum but rather
for preservation of a historic structure whose value is intrinsic, not
tied to its past uses. If the truth be known, how many buildings in
this Gold Rush town might have the exact same sort of checkered
history? Will every applicant for Redevelopment funding have to
demonstrate that there were no immoral activities in the building's
past? Then the money will go unspent!
Folsom's history differentiates it from Anytown USA. The City Council
committed to this building nine years ago. Does the City honor its
commitments?
