The Endangered 8: 2023 

A rare Civil War-era cottage, a former Depression-era boxing venue, and a fragile creekside habitat could all be bulldozed by the City to construct overflow surface parking for the SAP Center, years (if not decades) before the arena’s current parking capacity is impacted by Google’s now-paused Downtown West redevelopment. 405 W. St. John Street is a remarkable c.1860 cottage and likely one of the oldest surviving homes in central San Jose. Next door, the National Register-eligible Forman’s Arena hosted weekly boxing and wrestling bouts from 1926 through the late 1930s. Despite the area’s over-abundance of vacant lots and the uncertain timeline of any new construction, the City is proceeding with demolition plans without considering viable preservation alternatives.

UPDATE MARCH 2025

A fire destroyed Forman's Arena on March 20, 2025. Though the building was already scheduled for demolition, an effort to salvage the building's intact trusses and and portions of a historic ghost sign was underway-- these materials have now been destoyed. The City-owned property was left unsecured and unmaintained for more than a year prior to the fire-- a clear and tragic case of demolition by neglect.  This latest blaze followed numerous other fires on the property over the last year, including one in September 2024 that destroyed the historic cottage. 

MEDIA COVERAGE

KTVU Fox 2: "Preservationists angry historic San Jose buildings to be demolished for parking lot," June 24, 2023

Mercury News: "Plan to demolish historic San Jose sites for temporary SAP Center parking draws outrage," June 23, 2023