San Jose State’s modernist buildings on latest ‘Endangered 8’ list

Conversations about historic preservation are essentially about answering the question, “What things from our past are worth saving?” And, honestly, everyone’s answer is different, especially in San Jose — a city with a rich history that is constantly striving for the future.

With the Preservation Action Council’s latest iteration of its “Endangered 8” — a list of architectural and cultural landmarks it believes are threatened by neglect or redevelopment — the nonprofit is trying to spark those conversations well before the wrecking ball strikes.

The list, which you can find at preservation.org/e8-2025, includes many of the usual suspects — the dilapidated First Church of Christ Scientist, the Greyhound bus depot and the Beach & Bassler-Haynes buildings on Santa Clara Street. But it also includes a collection of modernist buildings on San Jose State’s campus that are slated to be torn down and replaced with bigger buildings, according to the university campus master plan.

These include the Science and Music buildings, Dudley Moorhead Hall and the old Administration building — all built between 1952 and 1957, a significant period of growth and change for the university.

PAC-SJ Executive Director Ben Leech says his organization recognizes that San Jose State needs to grow and evolve and concedes that not every building can be — or should be — saved. But, he noted, the campus’ iconic Tower Hall, a Spanish revival building constructed in 1910, was saved from demolition when most of its connected buildings were torn down in the mid-1960s after protests by student and alumni protests.

It’s hard to imagine the campus today without Tower Hall, which houses the university president’s office.

“Let’s think about this campus as something that can adapt without wholesale demolition,” Leech said. “Will these buildings be recognized for their architectural significance? I don’t know, but this is why we want to call the question before it’s too late. Putting these buildings on our list is our way of saying, ‘Let’s think of these buildings as resources.’ ”

Similarly, a trio of former San Jose movie theaters — the landmark Century 21, the shuttered Towne on The Alameda, and the Burbank — also made the list this year as a group. All three have potential re-uses in their futures, and Leech said PAC-SJ hopes their inclusion helps spur those plans along instead of letting the buildings languish and deteriorate further.

Personally, I’d still love it if Netflix adopted the domed Century 21, which was designated a city landmark in 2014 and is not far from Netflix’s Los Gatos headquarters. The company could transform it into a Mid-Century Modern shrine to movies, as well as using it as a Bay Area location to screen the streaming service’s own films.

That’s what it did with the classic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, which was restored and reopened in 2023. Could the same model succeed in Silicon Valley? I don’t know, but it’s a conversation worth having.

FESTIVAL OF FANDOM: GalaxyCon returns to downtown San Jose for its second year this weekend, and it’s expected to draw more than 30,000 people — including many cosplayers whose elaborate outfits will make for great people-watching.

The big names scheduled to attend include Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye from Marvel’s Avengers movies), cult-movie fan favorite Danny Trejo, Dolph Lundgren who played the Soviet baddie from “Rocky IV,” and William Shatner, who is the closest thing to a Patron Saint of Pop Culture that we have in Silicon Valley.

Barry Bostwick, who played Brad in 1975’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” also will have a special meet-and-greet event Saturday night before the 10 p.m. showing of the cult classic film, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This will be similar to one of the regular “midnight” shows at theaters (including San Jose’s 3Below): a “shadowcast” performance with the Barely Legal live cast. Could Bostwick be persuaded to take part in the Time Warp? We can only hope.

Beyond those events, there are countless photo opportunities, panel discussions, late-night events and costume contests available to conventiongoers (some involve an extra charge). It opens Friday and runs through Sunday; Get the full schedule and tickets at www.galaxycon.com/sanjose.

THE CAR’S THE STAR: The San Jose Chamber of Commerce’s annual barbecue is always the see-and-be-seen event of the year for the city’s business community. But you can bet the big star everyone’s going to want a selfie with won’t be a CEO or a politician. It’ll be a car.

Waymo will have one of its self-driving vehicles on display at the Aug. 21 soiree at History Park in San Jose. The California Public Utilities Commission gave the green light in May for Mountain View-based Waymo to begin offering passenger service in San Jose, and the autonomous cars — with people behind the wheel — have been spotted around town, but no service date has been announced yet.

It would be fun to see the vehicle taking folks on trips around History Park, but it’ll probably be stationary. If you do want the chance to check out the Waymo vehicles up close, though, you’d better act fast. Ticket sales for the barbecue, presented by Sutter Health, wrap up this week. Go to www.sjchamber.com/chamber-bbq for details.