WATSONVILLE >> A historic building in Watsonville could see some changes — including new entrances, reconfigured parking and a new sculpture patio — if the Watsonville Planning Commission approves a design review permit for exterior modifications to the Porter Building at its Tuesday meeting.

Located at 280 Main St., the Porter Building is currently home to Pajaro Valley Arts, but it has served many functions since it was constructed in 1903. According to a staff report by Assistant Community Development Director Matt Orbach, citing the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation Review, it was built for Warren Porter, future California lieutenant governor and son of John Thomas Porter, a former Santa Cruz County sheriff who also founded the Bank of Watsonville and Pajaro Valley Bank.

The building was constructed by William Weeks, a prominent California architect whose works include the current Santa Cruz High School campus and the Casino Arcade at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The Porter Building had two ground-level storefronts at 276 and 280 Main St., with the 280 Main location housing the dry goods store Daly’s and the 276 Main site being home to the post office. Over time, the two addresses housed a number of businesses, including a seed company, grocery store, meat market, war surplus store, furniture store, bowling alley and sewing machine store.

Meanwhile, the upstairs offices were occupied by tenants including physician and dentist’s offices, a photo studio and the Coast Counties Lumberman’s Club.

In 1978, the last tenant — men’s clothing store The Toggery — was evicted, and the city proposed to build a new police station and condemned the Porter Building, although the police station project was stopped by the Pajaro Valley Historical Association. In 1984, the City Council approved a resolution to designate the Porter Building as a historic property, and through the renovation work of Barry Swenson Builders, it began housing tenants again in the ‘80s, including a video store and the Pajaro Valley Gallery, foreshadowing the building’s future use as an art exhibition space.

However, the building was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and foreclosure proceedings began the following year, forcing the building’s owners to commence repairs to the property, Orbach wrote. The building was remodeled by the Watsonville/Aptos Adult School to be used as classrooms for the 1999-2000 academic year and then was occupied by Ceiba College Preparatory Academy from 2008 until 2015 when it moved to its current location on Locust Street. The building was vacant until Pajaro Valley Arts purchased the property in 2022.

Orbach wrote that applicant Brian Spector — the principal architect for Spector Corbett Architects — has made a few requests for renovations, including two new entrances at the front wall, a new opening on the south wall facing the parking lot, a new 576-square foot sculpture patio adjacent to the new opening, a parking reconfiguration and 1,279 square feet of new landscaping. These remodels would allow for retail, gallery and performance space on the first floor and classrooms, artist studios and office space on the second floor.

Orbach further wrote that the proposal was reviewed by architectural and historical consultants for consistency with the Secretary of the Interior’s rehabilitation standards and found that the project “would not cause a substantial adverse change to the integrity of a historic resource as defined in Public Resources Code §5024.1”

“The proposed use as exhibit and office spaces for Pajaro Valley Arts is similar to the building’s historic use as office and retail space,” he wrote. “The addition of the patio/sculpture garden on the south side of the building will not adversely impact any character-defining features of the site.”

The project was also found to be consistent with the 2025 General Plan and Downtown Watsonville Specific Plan, and staff is recommending the commission approve the design review permit.

The commission will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers on the top floor of the Watsonville Civic Plaza, 275 Main St., Watsonville.