Council approves Blue Wing Inn study concept

The first California hotel built north of San Francisco may be in line for some repairs following a unanimous decision Wednesday night by the Sonoma City Council.
Sitting as the Community Development Agency (CDA), which oversees property improvements in the city’s downtown commercial corridor, the panel unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with the California Department of Parks and Recreation concerning the state-owned Blue Wing Inn on West Spain Street.
The deal means the city will review a series of stabilization studies and potential uses for the more than 160-year-old structure, and contribute funding on a case-by-case basis.
“I think it’s probably a very good idea of what needs to be done before we can start working on the building,” project consultant and former Sonoma City Manager Pam Gibson told the agency.
Total costs – including archaeological, seismic, historical, and planning analyses – are estimated at between $360,000 and $720,000, but Gibson emphasized that the city isn’t obligated to specific funding amounts.
Answering Councilmember Steve Barbose’s question about what would happen to the Blue Wing Inn once it was stabilized, Gibson said that while the Sonoma State Historic Park’s General Plan calls for “interpretive use” – i.e., a museum – that doesn’t rule out other possibilities.
“It has to be used for educational uses, but if there are large enough internal spaces … there could be a number of things that could be decided,” she said. Gibson added that the state will facilitate community studies toward that end, noting that proposed uses and their subsequent insurance requirements would dictate the renovation’s scope – with school sleepovers, such as occur at Sonoma Barracks, requiring more extensive structural work than holding afternoon events.
Locally known first as the “Sonoma House,” and built by General Mariano Vallejo between 1836 and 1840 for travelers and new Sonoma emigrants, the building was purchased during the Gold Rush by two retired sailors who ran it as a hotel and store. Notable guests included John C. Fremont, Ulysses S. Grant, Kit Carson, “Fighting Joe” Hooker, William T. Sherman, and members of the Bear Flag party. In July 1853, four years after the second story was built, the name was officially changed to the “Blue Wing Inn.”
Councilmember questions were minimal, and mostly concerned the city’s responsibility. Stanley Cohen remarked that while the Blue Wing Inn is important to the community, funding is tight at the state and CDA levels. “What’s in it for me, Pam?” he asked.
Gibson cited an earlier speaker, historical docent Karla Noyes, who noted not only the importance of historical preservation in terms of the “multiplier effect” of 30,000 people visiting the Sonoma Mission last year and pumping an estimated $78 million into the local economy.
“You are preserving something for future generations,” Gibson said. “And that’s what’s in it for you – doing what’s right.”