San Jose city planners have proposed a controversial project that would see the demolition of historic San Jose buildings, including a Depression-era boxing venue and a potentially Civil War-era home, to create a temporary parking lot for the SAP Center, sparking outrage among local preservationists and community members according to The Mercury News.

The project aims to provide parking relief for the SAP Center, whose parking woes have been a persistent problem since at least 2020, when the San Jose Sharks voiced concerns about Google's massive real estate project impacting their fan base due to parking and construction disruptions, as reported by San Francisco Chronicle.

Proponents of the project argue that the 300-car parking lot is necessary due to the loss of existing capacity during future downtown construction projects like the BART extension and Google's Downtown West, though critics view it as paving over San Jose's history and in contradiction to the city's December decision to abolish parking minimums for new developments.

"Parking lots are just so deadening for the urban landscape," said Ben Leech, who leads the Preservation Action Council of San Jose (PACSJ), expressing the sentiments of many who would rather preserve the area's history and explore alternative solutions.

Unbeknownst to many, the 2.5-acre plot of land targeted for the temporary parking lot once housed a former boxing venue, Forman's Arena, dating back to 1926, which is now an automotive repair shop. Moreover, the site includes a boarded-up single-family residence whose architecture suggests that it could have been constructed as early as the 1860s, making it one of the oldest homes in San Jose, though the city disputes this, dating the house to the 1910s based on maps from the era.

Leech and other preservationists suggest that the current site could offer an alternative pedestrian-friendly area with a beer garden, restaurant, or other amenities to encourage local gathering and foster small business growth, rather than becoming a temporary parking lot.

Furthermore, recent news about Google reassessing the timeline for its downtown project has raised questions about the true need for increased parking in the area, prompting critics of the parking lot plan to explore other options.

In response to the criticism, the city maintains that it is contractually obligated to offer a certain amount of parking around the SAP Center and that the proposal aligns with San Jose's transit-oriented goals, per a statement by the city's Department of Transportation spokesperson Colin Heyne, but concerns over the potential destruction of San Jose's history and the negative impact of parking lots on the urban landscape persist.

The PACSJ has included the current site on its "Endangered 8" list, highlighting historical San Jose landmarks they believe are at risk of demolition or neglect. They also express environmental concerns over constructing a parking lot next to the Guadalupe River.

While the fate of these historic San Jose properties remains uncertain, the city's plan to raze them for additional SAP Center parking space has reignited conversations about balancing urban development and preserving local history, prompting many community members to challenge the city to consider alternative solutions for the area's parking crisis.

Leaders like Ben Leech are urging city officials to recognize the potential loss to San Jose's heritage in converting this location into a parking lot, stating, "The preservation issues aside, this is a really unfortunate place for a surface parking lot. We just see this as a real lost opportunity."