Our 1903 Jail and the County Finance building (formerly the County Courthouse) are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and represent times gone by. The 1903 Jail was built with quality materials and thousands of hours of expert labor, with artisans chiseling granite into beautiful blocks intended to last forever, like the castles of England. The 1944 Jail Annex was built with reinforced concrete and provides a lot of space in a building arguably built to withstand attacks during WWII, a period when materials and labor were hard to come by. A window into the days of America’s war effort.
The Architectural Preservation Foundation needs your help to save the Jail and Annex now and put them to new and productive use. We have been ordered by the court to come up with $13,000 by Sept. 10, 2021 to pay for the Administrative Record. If we fail to meet this goal, our case will be dismissed and demolition will proceed.
The outdoor dining program was initiated in 2020 to allow for outdoor space for dining in restaurants who weren’t allowed to have any customers inside. The model worked and live music was added to improve ambience during dining. Over time, the music became the most attractive part of this program. It’s become pretty clear that live music is something that people want and that people will come from around the area to see. We have discovered something that is a great attribute for our town.
The Mission of Thousand Friends of Martinez is to provide a stable organization which will work with residents to elect informed, conscientious representatives; promote open government; enhance our quality of life by creating a livable city; defend our parks and open spaces, and; conserve natural areas and historic elements in the greater Martinez region.
Our Objectives are to:
Endorse, support and fund responsible and environmentally supportive leaders
Promote transparent government
Promote better land use planning and the development of policies for the public benefit
Defend parks, creeks, wetlands, open space and historic elements
Support budgeting, ballot measures and funding for these purposes
Educate the public about these objectives and strategies
HELP THE CAUSE
Help Martinez strive for more transparent government, enlightened land use concepts and to defend parks, creeks, wetlands, open space and historic elements
