The First Unitarian Church of San Jose is one of the city’s oldest and most picturesque houses of worship, with the Romanesque building overlooking St. James Park originally constructed in 1891. And today, after a $2 million renovation, the building is looking better than ever.
The congregation and its church building have had a long and storied history in San Jose, with its members speaking out on social causes. They have spoken against the hanging of two accused killers in St. James Park in 1933 as well as the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The congregation has long been welcoming of LGBTQ members and flies a rainbow Pride flag in front of its doors.
“It was never a very large church at any given time, but they were still very engaged in the community,” said the Rev. Matthew McHale, who was installed as the church’s senior minister in June. “That’s been a long part of the Unitarian tradition — to be active in working for justice in a variety of different ways.”
Shortly after its 100th anniversary, the church was devastated by a six-alarm accidental fire that was likely started during a re-roofing project and it took nearly three years to complete repairs so the congregation could return in 1998.
Sue Pelmulder, who co-chaired the building committee, said the church started talking about a major renovation about a decade ago but couldn’t fund the project. A worsening roof leak prompted the church to revisit the issue in 2021, and it initially raised $1.4 million to replace the roof and make other repairs.
“We had lots of support from the church and the whole building committee,” Pelmulder said at a Noon Arts & Lectures program about the church’s renovation held on Oct. 24. “The whole church got involved in how do we pay for it.”
Jim Salata’s Garden City Construction, which has done more than its share of historic restoration projects in San Jose, was contracted to do the exterior work, which included redoing the roof, replacing rotten wood and all the exterior drainage and repairing the front doors, which had been closed for the past couple of years. The building — which was light brown — was repainted cream with dark green trim to match the green in the vintage stained glass in the front doors.
Interior renovations included replacing flooring in the church’s hall with salvaged Douglas fir planks, getting a new carpet (though keeping the church’s signature labyrinth design) and replacing the hard, wooden theater seats with modern, flexible chairs on the first floor. Salata said that throughout the process, it was important to maintain the integrity of the building and use quality materials.
“We wanted to do it right so it lasted a long time — at least beyond our lifetime,” he said.
The church continues to modernize, too, adding a new A/V system to improve the online presentation of its services, and refurbishing its youth room. You can check it out this Saturday when the church holds its fall fundraiser and auction from 2 to 5 p.m. Tickets are just $10 each, and you can get more information and register at sanjoseuu.org/auction.
San Jose’s historic First Unitarian church celebrates $2 million renovation