Campaign aims to save historic Gilbert house

Apr. 10—Forest Clare opened his sheet metal shop in 1919 in downtown Gilbert and operated it for over half a century.

After Clare and his sons closed the shop in 1975, it eventually was razed but the home he raised his family in stayed intact. The house later became Bergies Coffee Roast House, where the Bergeson family sold custom-roasted coffee for the next 14 years — until a developer purchased the 0.19-acre site for $3.1 million in late 2022 to house a restaurant/nightclub.

Known as the Clare House, the second oldest building in Gilbert now faces the wrecking ball.

"Unfortunately, the property was never registered under the Arizona Register of Historic Places or the National Register of Historic Places and is set to be demolished on May 15," said Casey Kendel, chairman of the town's Redevelopment Commission, which oversees development in the Heritage District.

"As residents, we have a unique opportunity to protect the Clare House and our town's history by moving the actual building to HD South the Home of the Gilbert Museum. But we must act fast.

"Our plan to move the Clare House is aggressive and expensive."

Kendel said at last week's council meeting that he and HD South President/CEO Denise Lopez are asking for help from the council, town staff, local businesses and Gilbert residents.

"We need to raise roughly $135,000 to cover the expense of safely moving the structure, the half mile to the location at HD South," he said April 2.

"This would create a permanent foundation for the house bringing it up to code for safe viewing and leave enough money for continued maintenance.

"When the announcement of Bergie's sale happened, it sent outrage throughout our community and there was a call of action from concerned residents about the nature of the planned business.

"There's nothing that can be done about that business. However, we can turn this into a positive and protect our history and preserve this second oldest building and place it next to the oldest building in Gilbert HD South."

According to Kendel, talks with the developer about relocating the building has been going on since fall 2023.

"When they were approached with the desire to save the building, they were on board," he said later. "I don't specifically recall a statement made by the lawyer, or to whom, or under what circumstances, but we've been working with them for quite some time to make this happen."

Lopez confirmed that HD South was working with Wags Capital and Associated Architects to save the home.

She added that if "the funds are not able to be raised, the building will not be relocated and will be subject to demolition in preparation for the construction of the new business going in at 309 N. Gilbert Road."

Kendel said the developer will help with the move to save the building.

"From conversations that have been shared, they have pledged, at the minimum, to donate the cost of what it would be to demo the building," he said. "Roughly $9,000 to $10,000."

Evening Entertainment Group's Bottled Blonde featuring lingerie-clad servers when it turns into a club scene at night is allowed to operate by right under the current zoning.

The project's land-use attorney as late as February reiterated efforts to preserve the Clare House when she went before the Redevelopment Commission for approval of Bottled Blonde's design.

"We are working on saving that house," attorney Lindsay Schube told the commissioners Feb. 21.

"And we've had multiple meetings on it, working with your community to preserve that home — obviously not on this location. But we are really excited about that."

She added that town staff were out there that day taking measurements and figuring out how to move the building and where to.

"We may house it temporarily before it can get to its final location," she said. "But I know town staff is very supportive of doing everything they can to help move it and we just want it preserved in the best place where the residents of Gilbert will be able to see it and enjoy it."

Bottled Blonde will be two-stories and 11,130 square feet with the top floor housing a patio with a retractable roof.

When Wags Capital first announced plans to open in Gilbert's downtown, hundreds of residents protested — citing concerns with noise, crime and that it was not family friendly.

A petition to stop the business from coming to Gilbert garnered over 4,000 signatures. Bottled Blonde, which opened its Scottsdale location in 2014 and has venues in Texas, has planned openings to include Las Vegas, Nevada and Nashville, Tennessee.