WATSONVILLE >> The historic Porter Building at the corner of Main Street and Maple Avenue will be getting some exterior upgrades that still maintain the 122-year-old building’s historic character.

At its Tuesday meeting, a quorum of the Watsonville Planning Commission unanimously approved a design review for exterior modifications for the building, which is now operated by Pajaro Valley Arts. The nonprofit purchased the property from the city in 2022 and is looking to make fixes to the building so it can expand its offerings.

The proposed modifications include 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.

Justin Meek, assistant community development director, said the project would not change the building’s existing use as an art gallery and museum. He also went over the history of the Porter Building.

The building was constructed by famed California architect William Weeks in 1903 for Warren Porter, who later served as lieutenant governor of California and co-founded Graniterock. His father was John Thomas Porter, who served as Santa Cruz County sheriff and founded the Bank of Watsonville and Pajaro Valley Bank.

Following Warren Porter’s inhabitance of the property, the Porter Building saw a variety of uses over the years, including a dry goods store, seed company, grocery store, meat market, war surplus store and physician and dental offices. The building was historically designated in 1984, and after a two-year renovation period, housed a video rental store and art gallery.

It was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and saw minimal use over the next couple of decades, including as the home of Ceiba College Preparatory Academy for seven years until it moved to its present Locust Street location in 2015.

Meek said the remodel would allow for retail, gallery and performance space on the first floor, and classrooms, artist studios and office space on the second floor.

The building would have two new front entrances facing Main Street, which Meek said would be in line with the vintage design.

“The new entrances integrate with respect to the historic character of the original building,” he said.

Judy Stabile, the president of Pajaro Valley Arts’ Board of Directors, said the goal of the project was to “bring the beauty of the building back to what it was” while still providing a space for people to enjoy the arts. It would continue to expand upon what the organization offers at its Sudden Street gallery.

“We really feel that we have been a vital part of the community over at Sudden Street, but we know that we have so much more potential moving into the Porter Building in terms of offering visual performing arts and community events,” she said.

Stabile said the new space would allow Pajaro Valley Arts to do more workshops and outdoor events.

“Anybody who’s visited our Sudden Street gallery knows that it’s about 1,200 square feet, and we’re bursting at the seams there,” she said. “When we have our reception there, when the public comes, you have two to three hundred people and there’s no place to go. You can barely even see the art, so the goal is to have larger spaces that the community can enjoy and really participate in, especially the performing arts which we haven’t done in quite a few years.”

Stabile said Pajaro Valley Arts began hosting performing arts shows in 1984, but they were sidelined after the earthquake and the opening of the Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts.

“Our focus became visual arts, and in a space like Sudden Street, that’s about all that we can do there because of the small rooms,” she said.

Chair Peter Radin asked what would happen to the Sudden Street gallery. Stabile said that building is owned by the city, and as Pajaro Valley Arts consolidates, it will leave it up to the city to determine what to do with the space.

Aurelio Gonzalez, who serves on the Pajaro Valley Arts board and pushed for the organization to move into the Porter Building when he was on the City Council, supported the proposed modifications.

“They’re gonna make the building more welcoming for the whole community,” he said. “Right now, the building is kind of shut off because … people don’t really know what’s going on behind those walls. It’s going to be really nice to have these entrances and this accessibility to different parts.”

Radin said the changes to the Porter Building had the potential to make Watsonville a destination, and Commissioner Lowell Hurst looked forward to its prospects.

“This is going to be a step into the future,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to the progress that’s being made and the history that’s being made.”

The commission voted 4-0 to approve the modifications. Vice Chair Brando Sencion and Commissioner Lucy Rojas were absent, and Ed Acosta resigned from the commission prior to Tuesday’s meeting, leaving the District 7 seat vacant.