Can the Petaluma Adobe be saved?

<p>Gen. Mariano Vallejo's two-story mud-brick ranch house that served as the headquarters of his sprawling 66,000-acre rancho in the mid-1880s, could soon be emptied of its artifacts, boarded up with plywood and closed to the public.</p><p>Due to state budget cuts, the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park, is one of 70 parks set to be closed by next July.</p><p>The good news is that Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill this month, authored by Assemblymember Jared Huffman, that allows nonprofit organizations to enter into agreements with the state to operate them. Organizations interested in helping keep the park open must submit proposals by the end of the year and show how they will raise needed revenue and specific plans to operate the park.</p><p>This opens the door for the Sonoma/Petaluma State Historic Parks Association to save the Adobe from closure if it can raise $110,000 by next July.</p><p>Up until now, the association's main purpose has been to support and raise funds for programs at state parks, so the major challenge it faces is coming up with a specific plan on how to operate the Adobe in a very short period of time — and the $110,000 it's going to cost to operate it for four days a week.</p><p>“The bill itself is one of those situations of be careful what you wish for,” said Philip Sales, membership chair of the Sonoma/Petaluma State Historic Parks Association. “What the bill has done is take the state parks out of state hands and put it into the arena of private nonprofits. Given the time frame, it's going to be a challenge to be ready to take over the operations of the Adobe by July.”</p><p>The association held a meeting recently to discuss ways to raise the needed money. The meeting was attended by California State Parks District Superintendent Steve Bachman and Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt.</p><p>“We were anticipating that the legislation would go through and started an ad hoc committee, which includes Supervisor David Rabbitt, the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club and some other groups rallying around our cause,” said Sales, who is also a docent at the Adobe. “We're developing a strategy that may not be in a position to take over the park in July, but we want to have it in place and raise sufficient funds and resources so that we can contract with the state parks to operate the Adobe for a period of time, maybe a year, while we get our act together.”</p><p>The committee is already doing a major outreach to increase membership, particularly in the Petaluma area, which Sales says is under-represented.</p><p>“Asking people to join the association is not necessarily going to solve the money issue, but our strategy is to get more people from Petaluma engaged in this effort and folks who want to take on some leadership roles in this,” said Sales. “This will also make it easier to go to foundations and corporations asking for help if we can show that the Adobe is something people really care about.”</p><p>Sales said the association is also looking for individuals with specific skills and experience in areas such as fund-raising and finance to serve on committees.</p><p>While the association is rushing to organize, prepare to operate a park and raise funds to keep the Adobe open, the clock is ticking for park ranger Crystal Shoaf, who has served as the Adobe's live-in ranger for the past decade. Because her position is not part of the contract between the state and the association, she will be relocated to another park. Of major concern is that this will leave the park without someone to look after it 24/7.</p><p>“The park came with a house, so I became a state park resident,” said Shoaf. “That was for the protection of the building since we're in an area without many surrounding buildings. I feel personally that once it's boarded up, vandalism will occur. It's sad. You can't just step in and patch an adobe building that's more than 150 years old.”</p><p>The Adobe has already been the victim of copper theft. A large copper pot worth $5,000 was stolen on Aug. 8. Shoaf said it was donated to the park in 1951 and is irreplaceable.</p><p>“It's quite large and I'd say it would take four or five people to move,” said Shoaf. “It has the inscription ‘California Copperworks' on it. In Vallejo's time, it was used to render tallow (cow fat).”</p><p>If the Petaluma Adobe closes in July, the state will be boxing up the park's many artifacts and moving them to a warehouse in Sacramento for safekeeping. The windows and doors will all be boarded up with plywood to help prevent break-ins. While Shoaf said that a state parks employee will check in on the Adobe, for the most part, it will be unwatched.</p><p>“I feel vandalism will set in because people will know that there is no longer anyone here,” said Shoaf. </p><p>Arrangements are being made for the park's resident donkey and sheep, which Shoaf said are owned by the Sonoma/Petaluma State Historic Parks Association, to be relocated.</p><p>She remains hopeful that the Sonoma/Petaluma State Historic Parks Association will be successful in getting the funding it needs to keep the park open for the planned four days a week. Currently, the park is only open two days a week.</p><p>“It's sad,” said Shoaf. “This building is the oldest in Petaluma and was here before the city was founded. It's an absolute jewel. I'm sure Gen. Vallejo would be appalled to hear that it might no longer be open for everybody to visit.”</p><p>For more information on efforts to keep the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park open, contact Philip Sales at 592-1601 or Liz Kane at 773-3124.</p><p>(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovanna.bieberich@arguscourier.com)</p>