PINOLE CITY HALL: Pinole outgrew its old, single-story city hall on Pear Street in the late 1980s as the population exceeded 19,000. Plans were drawn for a seismically safe facility after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the Ruff and Downer buildings on San Pablo Avenue, which were subsequently demolished. A modern Pinole City Hall opened to the public on June 2, 1998. In addition to housing all city departments, it also hosts city council and various committee and commission meetings. PINOLE HOTEL/BANK OF PINOLE: The 19th century-built Pinole Hotel stood on the south side of San Pablo Avenue between Tennent and Valley avenues. It burned down in 1914. In 1915, Edward M. Downer, mayor of Pinole, opened the newly constructed Bank of Pinole on this site. Downer, the first official postmaster, transfer agent, and telegrapher of the Southern Pacific’s Pinole depot, and co-publisher of Pinole’s first newspaper, the Pinole Weekly Times, founded the Bank of Pinole in 1905. This building is one of two in Pinole on the National Register of Historic Places; the Fernandez Mansion is the other. In recent years it has served as a pre-school, youth center, restaurant, and flower shop. 28 MARKETPLACEcontrac osta .com May 2015
Contra Costa Marketplace - May 2015
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