Valley of Heart's Delight: 1777-2020: Merging the Past, Present and Future in Silicon Valley

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Merging the Past, Present and Future in Silicon Valley

"FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST"

(St. James Street, between First and Second streets, Downtown San Jose)

1st Church Christ Scientist

"The First Church of Christ Scientist was designed by Willis Polk and built in 1905. The plan of the building is a Greek cross. Four Ionic columns dominate the entry portico. Since the construction of a new church in 1946, the building has been used for a variety of purposes. Its scale and dignity make it an important contributor to the city’s architectural heritage. High-rise housing is now planned around the vacant building."...from the Downtown History Walk webpage.

This beautiful building has been part of the downtown San Jose landscape for 110 years.

The Church's Majestic Profile

Since 1946, the 1st Church of Christ Scientist building has been used as a theater, a child care center and a rehearsal hall for the Children's Musical Theater.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, it was known as the "Garden of Allah Theater" and showed underground and independent films.

Though the building is currently in major disrepair, it's

Rendering of Church From
the Fountain at St. James park

historic designation ensures it will be not be torn down. Barry Swenson Builders has plans to make the historic church the centerpiece of a beautifully designed luxury condominium complex. Part of the new plan calls for the building to be moved to another location on the current lot.

We are currently negotiating with the contractor to digitally document the building before the construction process begins for historic purposes. Digitally documenting the building prior to construction will preserve the building in it's original location for History San Jose's archives.

There are also several benefits to the larger project, should the construction professionals choose to utilize the data we collect. For example, documenting the building and property prior to construction will give the contractor(s) a precise "as-exist" point cloud of the area that can be imported to AutoCad, Revit, Point Tools or other appropriate software packages.

Rendering of Park View Towers Complex w/
the Christian Scientist Church as the Centerpiece

With a point cloud, the relocation of the building can be done to millimeter accuracy, virtually and

prior to the actual physical move; saving time and money for the contractor. To take this a step further, the entire construction project, including the high-rise condominiums can be designed by and built virtually.

Once the data is collected, there literally dozens of things that it could be used for, both in the immediate and long term future for the complex. Everything from green building design and planning to facility maintenance and operations.

Park View Towers Consist of Two Buildings
of a 12 Story and 18 Story

Once again, our tool of choice for this unique project is the FARO 3D Focus Laser Scanner. For this particular project, we plan to use the FARO 330 Long Range Scanner. It's extended range is ideal for capturing the the building and surrounding property, providing us with the essential data required by the architects, general contractor, surveyors and most importantly for us, the preservationist.