Wanted: Your Ideas for Future of Temporary Library Building Downtown

As Gilroy’s expansive new library takes shape, questions have begun to emerge about the future of the on the edge of the city’s downtown.

At 9,000 square feet, the 1940s-era structure on Monterey Street has served as a grocery, dollar store, auction house and boxing gym run by Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero.

Now, after giving the building a major face-lift, owner and downtown advocate Gary Walton said he’s also wondering about its post-library future.

“I’m open to suggestions!” he said. 

The city of Gilroy has leased the building since last year, providing a home for the public library during the construction of the new 53,500-square-foot facility near City Hall.

While the library's temporary home is 3,500 less square feet than the original location, it has generated between 1,500-2,000 visitors a day, Walton said. Those numbers match the traffic of a small department store.

“The location is quite convenient for people,” said Lani Yoshimura, head librarian.

Library visitors and staff will have nearly six times more room after leaving behind the cozy space on Monterey, but long-time librarian Yoshimura said there were elements of the temporary location that a future tenant might appreciate.

“It’s nice and visible, and has a lot of space,” she said.

A fence separates the building from the adjacent railroad tracks, and new lighting helps keep the area illuminated at night, she said.

“For me, it would be great to see some kind of social service agency come here,” she said.

The future of the building was a topic at the city council’s board earlier this month.

“It’s bigger than your typical mom-and-pop shop,” City Administrator Tom Haglund said at the meeting, outlining the sorts of tenants that might be interested in the space.

Councilman Bob Dillon comically coughed, “Trader Joe’s” during the discussion, but he said Thursday that the idea of a high-end grocery store moving into the location was no joke.

“The building is probably big enough to do it,” he said.

Dillon said that an upscale, Italian-style grocery store like the Bay Area’s Adronico’s would serve residents of the nearby condominium housing and support foot traffic downtown.

“One of the ideas behind building condos above retail is they create walkable communities,” he said. “A grocery store at that location would go a long way in supporting that.”

Results from the recent “” indicated a desire for a grocery store downtown, and Walton said he has begun reaching out to smaller regional players like Santa Cruz-based New Leaf Community Markets to see if it would be a good fit.

While the future of the building is still up in the air–including the chance that the city may want to continue its lease–Walton said the 48-car parking lot and recent remodeling would make it a good candidate for a grocery store that could highlight the city’s agricultural heritage.

“We have to build on our assets,” he said, “We have farms–San Jose doesn’t.”

Other possibilities include a pool hall or a mixed market in the format of San Francisco’s Ferry Building, the owner and downtown advocate said.

Specifics aside, the building would likely end up in the hands of someone who would bring something unique to the district, he said.

“It’s an opportunity to grow downtown,” said Walton, “but you have to have unique things to have people come here.”