6/9/05 - Phase 2 begins!

Crews sandblasted the pillars just days after permits were issued.

6/9/05 - Phase 2 begins!

Washdown after all the work before an assessment of the work necessary to restore concrete and stucco.

1/23/05 - Residents prepare for pillar restoration on Clintonia & Heritage pole on Coe.

A super crew came out at 8:30AM and went to work. Dave Yarnold works pieces free from the sidewalk while others begin rescuing the palm tree from a concrete base!

1/23/05 - Residents prepare for pillar restoration on Clintonia & Heritage pole on Coe.

Julia Tranchina, Jean Herriges, Chuck Frascone, Garret Redeling and Greg Biggs form teams to conquer the 'crete!

1/23/05 - Residents prepare for pillar restoration on Clintonia & Heritage pole on Coe.

Helen Schrum, Betty Grosskreuz and Fancy look on as the guys waste no time. Greg Biggs, Garret Redeling, Chuck Frascone and Don Klapp pictured.

8/4/04 - City engineers come out for final splicing into electrical connections.

Last minute checks are made on all fuses, connectors, and photocells. The pillar lights will come on at dark just like regular streetlights.

8/4/04 - City engineers come out for final splicing into electrical connections.

8/4/04 - City engineers come out for final splicing into electrical connections.

Even when there is work going on around them, the pillars seem to look fantastic!

7/31/04 - A finished pillar! The urns have been mounted on the pedestals and Rosemary has been planted.

(More photos of the completed pillars to follow . . .)

7/18/04 & 7/25/04 - Residents join to install irrigation to the park strips around the pillars on Plaza Drive.

Paid for by a grant from San Jose Beautiful, irrigation and plants replace what was once concrete.

7/18/04 & 7/25/04 - Residents join to install irrigation to the park strips around the pillars on Plaza Drive.

It was a hot Sunday in July but lots of help made it all go quicker.

7/18/04 & 7/25/04 - Residents join to install irrigation to the park strips around the pillars on Plaza Drive.

The crew at the end of the job. Many more helped at different times during the day. What a great effort on the part of everyone involved!

7/18/04 & 7/25/04 - Residents join to install irrigation to the park strips around the pillars on Plaza Drive.

Switching places with the cameraman - one more time!

7/20/04 - New domes are installed and brackets are finished. Lanterns are being retrofitted with rigid mounts. Next: urn installation.

6/20/04 - Pillar with lanterns mounted.

This was the "rough" electrical pass with inspectors. Lanterns will be retrofitted for windy location and remounted for final inspections.

6/01/04 - Crews begin installing the new brackets.

The city inspector watches from the left and Norman Finnance, Restoration Consultant, supervises from the right.

6/01/04 - Crews begin installing the new brackets.

The bracket arms are solid old growth cedar. Besides being very difficult to find and very costly, this material is extremely heavy. The team works carefully to install steel straps inside the pillar to anchor the brackets.

4/8/04 - City and contractor bores underground for electrical connection.

R&D Drilling from the central valley come in for the job with very specialized boring equipment.

4/8/04 - City and contractor bores underground for electrical connection.

The drill bit emerges on Plaza Drive exactly where they want it. They steered the bit past 5 different gas lines!

4/8/04 - City and contractor bores underground for electrical connection.

Here the city supplies the electric conduit to R&D Drilling to attach to the boring system that will now pull the conduit back through the hole.

4/8/04 - City and contractor bores underground for electrical connection.

Neighbors come out to watch as they slowly pull the conduit back through underneath Coe Avenue.

4/8/04 - City and contractor bores underground for electrical connection.

The slowly turning and moving conduit provided great fascination to this neighborhood cat. He watched and pounced on it the whole time!

4/5/04 - City crews dig potholes at Clintonia & Palm Haven Aves. This helps verify pipe locations for safety when boring occurs.

4/5/04 - The hole is dug for the foundation of the new streetlamp. (With restored original arm.)

4/5/04 - The old streetsign is removed from where the streetlamp will go. Vintage-style streetsigns will be replaced and mounted on the streetlamp.

4/5/04 - City crews dig potholes between the pillars at Plaza & Coe and the power circuit on Broadway.

2/4/04 - City crews come out to remove the 1920s streetlamp next to the pillar in the park.

2/4/04 - The old streetlamp did not give up easily.

This one made the evening TV news in the 1970s when crews tried to replace it with a new one. Residents called the city and said no way. An apology was issued and the pole was returned.

2/4/04 - The old streetlamp will be replaced with a new one opposite the pillar.

The city said the old one was rusting out and needed a replacement. The Restoration Committee is working with the city to replace the pole with one in the same style.

1/24/04 - Neighbors come together to help save money on the project by removing concrete themselves!

This is sponsored by a grant from San Jose Beautiful: They pay for materials and the community does the work.

1/24/04 - Martin Delson, Mark Allison, Mike Borbely, and Charlie Ybarra get started on the first section.

Also helping on Saturday:

Greg Biggs, Joan Bohnett, Jim Connelley, Doug Gardner, Cheryl Marvin, Dianne Saichek

1/25/04 - Wow! The group filled one 8-yard dumpster to the top!

1/25/04 - This was teamwork! Everyone worked together so well that it only took a couple hours to remove the strip on one side of Plaza.

1/25/04 - The Sunday crew: Mark Allison, Joan Bohnett, John Hops, Martin Delson, Carolyn Biggs, Greg Biggs, Chuck Frascone

1/25/04 - One more time! The Sunday crew w/M. Borbely; Dianne Saichek helped and Dave Marvin supplied a cooler full of drinks for everyone to enjoy!

Thanks to everyone that helped out!

12/16/03 - On a cool December morning, the pillars await their rebirth.

12/16/03 - Park pillar on morning of December 16, 2003.

12/16/03 - First step: sandblast the surface to determine what is needed to repair concrete & stucco.

12/16/03 - The park pillar takes more time due to recent paint job.

12/16/03 - This is a job for the pros.

12/16/03 - Plaza pillars after sandblasting.